Pete Hegseth has made it through his confirmation hearing and now appears to be on a glide path for confirmation as secretary of defense. The hearing, which lasted four hours, subjected Hegseth to questioning before the Senate’s Armed Services Committee in an attempt to gauge the Trump nominee’s worldview and qualifications to run a nuclear-armed entity with a nearly one-trillion-dollar budget.

Here are a few takeaways from the hearing.

Spartan qualifications

Hegseth does not have the qualifications that one would typically associate with the leader of the most powerful military in human history. Yes, Hegseth served as a member of the Army National Guard, completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was awarded the Bronze Star—accomplishments for which Hegseth should be proud and for which civilians ought to appreciate him. But to put Hegseth’s military service in perspective, consider that he will be replacing Lloyd Austin, a general, who served in uniform from 1975 to 2016, and has extensive command experience.

Hegseth’s civilian career doesn’t exactly qualify him for secretary of defense either; Hegseth ran two veterans organizations, earned a master’s degree from Harvard, and spent eleven years as a TV personality on Fox & Friends. Impressive, but not consistent with confirmation as leader of the entire military.

In Hegseth’s defense, he is just forty-four years old—which would make him the youngest secretary of defense in decades. Then again, Hegseth’s age is another knock against his qualifications for the role. Ironically, Hegseth has emphasized his intentions to revert the military back to a meritocracy, which he claims it is not currently.

End of DEI

Hegseth stated that the U.S. military should be a strictly merit-based organization. During the confirmation hearing, Hegseth said that he wanted to return the Department of Defense (DoD) to a “warrior culture” and that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives have no place in the military.

“Warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That’s it. That is my job,” Hegseth said, adding that, “this is not a time for equity.”

Hegseth is correct: the U.S. military should be merit-based. And the U.S. military should never have become beholden to the post-2020 DEI fad. The importance of the DoD’s mission and the nature of the work should have made the DoD immune to the social pressures of the 2020s. That didn’t happen. But fortunately, the DEI wave seems to have crested and is now receding. Across industries, various outfits are dismantling their DEI infrastructure. With Hegseth’s confirmation, the U.S. military appears to also be on the verge of dismantling its DEI infrastructure, a change that should benefit performance and morale.

Ad Hominem Attacks

During the confirmation hearing, Democrats attempted to impeach Hegseth’s character. Questions about Hegseth’s infidelity and alcoholism seemed to take center stage. And while character can certainly relate to job performance—the more obvious line of questioning seems like it should have been related to Hegseth’s qualifications to do the job. Ad hominem attacks are a facet of modern government and politics, unfortunately. And certainly, an individual with glaring and disruptive character flaws may not be suited for profound responsibilities, including stewardship of a nuclear arsenal. But oftentimes, character assassination can serve as a distraction from the real issues, like, in this case: whether Hegseth has any idea what he is doing.

About the author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

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