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Hegseth's first words as secretary of defense: America first and peace through strength

"The first thing that goes through my head are the guys that I served with on the battlefield," Hegseth said from the White House.

JD Vance had to break a tie in the Senate to confirm Hegseth/Roberto Schmidt.AFP

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Pete Hegseth was confirmed by the Senate to serve as defense secretary late Friday night. Just hours later, JD Vance swore him in and formally made him part of Donald Trump's cabinet, who celebrated his confirmation on social media. Hegseth became the youngest Pentagon chief since Donald Rumsfeld, who took office in 1975 at age 43.

Hegseth's vote was so close that the vice president had to break the 50-50 tie. It was the second time in history that the vice president's appearance was necessary. The first was during the first Trump administration when Mike Pence had to vote in favor of Betsy DeVos for the Department of Education.

Hegseth was sworn in Saturday afternoon, accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Rauchet, and their seven children. After shaking hands with Vance in the Eisenhower Room of the White House, he gave a speech stating his priorities for the Department of Defense.

"America first and peace through strength"

Immediately after being sworn in, Hegseth kissed his wife and hugged his children in a group hug. He then gave his first speech as head of the Pentagon. The Army veteran first thanked Trump, to whom he will now be accountable. "We could not have a better commander-in-chief than him. It is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you," he began.

"The first thing that goes through my head are the guys that I served with on the battlefield, the men and women who I locked shields with, who put my life on the line with, who never get the spotlight, who never had the cameras, who people don't know what they did in dark and dangerous places. At the Pentagon, we're going to remember, and we're going to think about those warriors with every single decision that we make," the new defense secretary continued.

Hegseth also outlined the three principles by which he will run one of the federal government's most heavily budgeted departments. "Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence. We don't want to fight wars, we want to deter them."

"We don't want to fight wars, we want to deter them. We will put America first. We will bring peace through strength," Hegseth declared.

The defense secretary became the second member of Trump's cabinet to be confirmed by the Senate. The first was Marco Rubio, who garnered 99 votes in favor and none against.

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