Though it still seems hard to believe, a couple of weeks ago, Senate Republicans narrowly confirmed former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as the nation’s new secretary of defense, overlooking his scandals, inexperience and bizarre ideology. As the Pentagon chief’s tenure gets underway, how are things going?
They could be better. NBC News reported:
Military families protesting the Defense Department’s anti-DEI push heckled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on his arrival at U.S. European Command headquarters in Germany on Tuesday. On a visit to the U.S. military’s key European military hub in Stuttgart, Hegseth was booed by around two dozen people who live at the base in an apparent demonstration against the policies being implemented by the Trump administration.
“Protests by military families against a defense secretary are extremely rare,” the report added.
A related report in The Washington Post noted, “Dozens of American students at a U.S. military installation in Germany walked out of their middle school on Tuesday as part of protests aimed at an official visit by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.”
That’s not exactly common, either.
To appreciate why the Pentagon chief is confronting critics, even at a U.S. military installation, consider some of the more notable developments at the Department of Defense in recent weeks:
- In Hegseth’s first public address to the Pentagon workforce, he spent an unusual amount of time on an unexpected subject. As The New York Times reported, “Speaking to a room filled with African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and white Americans, both men and women, he offered a full-throated attack on the military’s decades-long efforts to diversify.”
- Hegseth reportedly launched an effort to restrict access to books and learning materials in the school system serving U.S. military families.
- Hegseth ended the DoD’s policy on travel funds for service members seeking reproductive care, fulfilling a goal sought by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
- Hegseth barred transgender Americans from joining the U.S. military, regardless of merit.
- Hegseth barred recognition of Black History Month, Women’s History Month and related honors, deeming them “dead.”
- Hegseth changed the name of Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg, and did so in a way that will satisfy few.
With a record like this, the question isn’t why the defense secretary faced pushback at U.S. European Command headquarters in Germany; the question is whether he’ll see even more protests in the coming days, weeks and months.
