Pete Hegseth seeks heroes, preparedness and danger above all else

Pete Hegseth is in the spotlight today at his 4-plus hour hearing to become secretary of defense. At the same time, he talked about his mission to restore the warrior ethos in the Pentagon, rebuild the military, and reestablish sanctions around the world.

PETE HEGSETH: “When President Trump nominated me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was to restore a culture of heroes to the Department of Defense. He, like me, you want the Pentagon laser focused on killing, achieving success, combat accountability and readiness. // You believe, and I humbly agree, that it’s time to tip the hat to the man with the dust in his boots – the agent of change.”

Rather than being another manager, or a senior general, or someone from the military-industrial complex, Mr. Hegseth will become secretary of defense for the military – emphasizing his “dust in the boot” experience on the battlefield. Listen to:

PETE HEGSETH: “I’ve led soldiers into battle. I’ve been on patrol for days. I’ve pulled a gun down, heard bullets go by, captured insurgents, called close air support, led medevac, dodged IEDs, pulled out corpses and knelt in front of a battlefield cross. This is not life mine.

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Levels will be higher in the Hegseth Pentagon, but awakening and DEI will be much lower.

Hegseth, a highly decorated veteran who served in both the Afghanistan and Iraq combat zones, has said repeatedly that he seeks warriors, preparedness, and danger above all else. Here’s another clip from today:

PETE HEGSETH: “We won World War II with seven four-star generals. Today we have 44 star generals. There is an inverse relationship between the size of the staff and victory on the battlefield. We don’t need more bureaucracy at the top. We need more warfighters empowered on the ground.”

There will be fiscal checks to curb waste, but there will also be targeted spending increases in areas such as the navy and nuclear deterrence, among other areas.

And all the Democrats could do, for more than four hours, was attack him personally – citing anonymous smears that were never proven.

The democracies were a wonderful party. No one showed support for Hegseth. And none of the Democrats acknowledged Biden’s failure in Afghanistan, or Russia-Ukraine, or appeasement of Iran, or half-hearted support for Israel, or resistance to China.

One of the themes in the November election was the importance of change – in the economy, in terms of illegal immigration, and in foreign policy, where suddenly under Joe Biden the world is on fire.

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Hegseth will be an extraordinary change agent at the Pentagon. A bug, I mean. That is what the world wants. And he is a man of faith, like all of us, who has made mistakes in the past. But, like all of us sinners, he is working to change himself. Listen to:

PETE HEGSETH: “I am not a perfect person, as it has been acknowledged, I was saved by the grace of God, through Jesus and Jenny. I am not a perfect person, but redemption is real, and God shaped me in the ways I know.” I’m ready.”

I love that, I love that. And my holy wife knows a thing or two about it herself. And that’s the riff.

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This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening remarks on Jan. 14, 2025, edition of “Kudlow.”