Among the most shocking actions taken by Donald Trump and the Republicans in the first week of his new administration — and there were many — successfully confirming a totally inexperienced weekend TV show host with obvious character flaws and a penchant for war criminals as defense secretary was one for the books. Pete Hegseth is now in charge of the world's most powerful military, as well as the country's largest bureaucracy, and he is completely unqualified for that task in every way. But he is a Trump loyalist for sure. It says something about the president's coterie of followers that Hegseth was the best he could do.
There was some visible discomfort among Republican senators. Three of them actually voted against Hegseth, including former majority leader Mitch McConnell, along with Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Not a single Democrat supported Hegseth, leaving the Senate divided 50-50, which meant that Vice President JD Vance was required to cast the tie-breaking vote. Other Republicans who had expressed reservations came home in the end, likely because Hegseth is a true blue MAGA warrior with the full backing of the hardcore base, which made its wishes known in no uncertain terms. You could tell that whole experience left a bad taste in some senators' mouths, but they weren't willing to poke those bears.
