President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Army veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary breaks longstanding tradition of Pentagon chiefs with long careers in government, industry and the military.
That appears to be Trump’s aim: a Washington outsider who will shake up what he considers a hidebound institution that didn’t always do what he wanted in his first administration, according to military experts and current and former Defense officials. Hegseth has laid down markers on his agenda for running the Pentagon: firing generals who promote “woke” military policies, eliminating combat roles for women, and loosening reins on troops conduct in combat.
Yet forcing abrupt change on the Pentagon, its 2.3 million troops and civilian workers, and a $900 billion annual budget has eluded former Defense secretaries with more experience.
“The Secretary of Defense job is much more difficult than people realize,” said Peter Feaver, a Duke University professor and expert on civilian-military relations. “There are management challenges with a budget that dwarfs the GDP of many countries and a payroll that eclipses all but the largest companies in the world.”
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