The newly sworn-in defense secretary outlined plans on Saturday to advance the president's defense priorities.

Pete Hegseth has been narrowly confirmed as Donald Trump’s defence secretary, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience and behaviour as Mr Hegseth,

Newly-confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth received strong praise from President Trump and other Republicans following a nail-biting Senate vote Friday night that will see him take command of the Pentagon.

Vice President JD Vance was forced to step in after Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell broke ranks and voted against Hegseth.

Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience and behavior as Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role leading the U.S. military.

The Secretary of Defense of the United States is one of the most important jobs in the entire world. The person nominated for this role needs to be someone of the highest character and with the credentials and experience to match.

Notably, Gabbard questioned the US intelligence community’s assessments that Assad was behind a deadly chlorine gas attack the same year she met with the Syrian strongman, to which Trump said at the time: “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons.”

Trump’s pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency is John Ratcliffe, who formerly served as Director of National Intelligence in Trump’s first term. His confirmation hearing took place last week, during which he repeatedly said he would not hire or fire employees based on their political views.

Three Republicans voted with every Democrat against Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Pentagon, forcing Vance to step in and put Hegseth over the top.

Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell voted against confirming Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary. To Capitol insiders, their decisions weren’t surprising.

Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Thursday to advance his nomination.