Hegseth Sworn In As Def Sec In Senate After Dramatic Vote

Pete Hegseth was sworn in Saturday as the nation's 29th secretary of defense, quickly joining President Trump's Cabinet after a dramatic late-night vote in the Senate installed him as the Pentagon's leader.

- Associated Press

WASHINGTON:

Hegseth took the oath from Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with Hegseth's wife, Jennifer Rauchet, at his side and Republican senators looking on. The ceremony came less than 12 hours after Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to narrowly seal Hegseth's confirmation.

In brief remarks, Hegseth outlined what he said were his guiding principles: "Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence".

"We don't want to fight wars," he added. "We want to deter them and we want to end them responsibly. But if we need to fight them, we're going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home." He thanked Vance for his tiebreaking vote and joked that his children were happy their father "won in overtime".