Pete Hegseth shone today in his 4+ hour long hearing to become Defense Secretary. From the summit, he spoke of his mission to restore the warrior ethos in the Pentagon, rebuild the military and restore deterrence on the global stage.

PETE HEGSETH: “When President Trump picked me for this position, the main charge he gave me was to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense. He, like me, he wants a Pentagon laser focused on lethality, meritocracy, accountability in combat and readiness. // He believes, and I humbly agree, that it’s time to give the helm to someone with dust in their boots, an agent of change.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 9: Fox anchor Pete Hegseth interviews entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel during “FOX & Friends” at the Fox News Channel Studios on August 9, 2019 in New York City York. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

More than another bureaucrat, or even a high-ranking general, or someone from the military-industrial Boardroom, Mr. Hegseth would be a soldier’s defense secretary, highlighting his “dust in his boots” experience on the battlefield. Take a listen:

PETE HEGSETH: “I’ve led troops in combat. I’ve been on patrol for days. I’ve pulled the trigger, heard bullets fly by, flexed, handcuffed insurgents, called in close air support, directed medical evacuation, dodging IEDs, withdrawn .dead bodies and kneeling in front of a battlefield cross. This is not academic to me.

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Standards will be high in a Hegseth Pentagon, but he woke up and the DEI will be very low.

Hegseth, a highly decorated veteran who served in both the Afghanistan and Iraq combat zones, has said time and time again that he wants 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 the size of the general staff and victory on the battlefield. We don’t need more bureaucracy at the top. We need more empowered warriors at the bottom.”

There will be fiscal audits to curb waste, but there will also be targeted spending increases in places like naval ships and nuclear deterrence, and elsewhere.

And all the Democrats could do, for more than four hours, was attack him personally, citing anonymous lies that have never been proven.

Democrats were incredibly partisan. Not a single one showed any support for Hegseth. And none of the Democrats acknowledged Biden’s failures in Afghanistan, or Russia-Ukraine, or appeasement of Iran, or weak support for Israel, or standing in china.

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

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Hegseth will be an unconventional change agent at the Pentagon. A disruptor, even. It’s what the country wants. And he is also a man of faith who, like the rest of us, has made mistakes in the past. But, like all sinners, he is working to change. Take a listen:

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

i love this just love this And my holy wife knows a thing or two. And that’s the riff.

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This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening comment in the January 14, 2025 edition of “Kudlow”.