Pete Hughes wants fighters, preparedness and lethality above all else

Pete Hegseth shined today in his more than 4-hour hearing to become Secretary of Defense. Right from the top, he talked about his mission to restore the fighting spirit to the Pentagon, rebuild the military and reestablish sanctions on a global scale.

Pete Hegseth: “President Trump’s primary charge when he selected me for this position was to restore the warrior culture to the Department of Defense. He, like me. He wants the Pentagon Laser focused on lethality, meritocracy, combat accountability, and preparedness. // He believes, and I humbly agree, that it’s time to give a man with dust on his shoes the leader – an agent of change.

Mr Hegseth would be the defense secretary, rather than another bureaucrat, or even a senior general, or someone from the military-industrial boardroom, a soldier – highlighting his “dust on boots” experience on the battlefield. Listen:

Pete Hegseth: “I’ve led a platoon into combat. I’ve been on patrol for days. I’ve lowered the trigger, heard shots, exchanged fire, armed insurgents, called in close air support, led a medevac, deployed EEDs, deployed. Dead bodies and knelt before battlefield crosses. This is my life.

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Standards will be higher in the Hegset Pentagon, but active and DEI will be much lower.

Hegseth, a highly decorated veteran who served in the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, has repeatedly said he seeks warriors, readiness and lethality 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 four-star generals. There is an inverse relationship between staff size and Victory on the battlefield. We don’t need more bureaucracy at the top. We need more warriors down there.”

There will be a fiscal audit to curb waste, but targeted spending increases in areas such as the Navy and nuclear defenses, among others.

And all the Democrats could do was personally attack him for more than four hours — citing anonymous smears.

Democrats were surprisingly partisan. He showed no support for Hegsett. And none of the Democrats have ever acknowledged Biden’s failures in Afghanistan, or Russia-Ukraine, or the appeasement of Iran, or their weak-hearted support for Israel, or his stand-up with China.

One of the main themes in the November election was the need for change – on the economy, on illegal immigration and on foreign policy. Suddenly, under Joe Biden, the world is now on fire.

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Hegsett will be an unusual agent of change in the Pentagon. Annoying, even. It is what the country wants. And like the rest of us, he is a man of faith who has made mistakes in the past. But like us sinners, he is working to change himself. Listen:

Pete Hegseth: “By the grace of God, I’m not perfect, as Jesus and Jenny told me. I’m not perfect, but redemption is real, and God made me the way I know I’m ready.”

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

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This article is adapted from an opening comment by Larry Kudlow in the January 14, 2025, issue of “Kudlow”.