January 25, 2025 - 8:00am

Pete Hegseth is officially in charge of the Pentagon. For Republicans, confirming Hegseth became a litmus test the party passed, clearing the way for a two-year sprint to enact Donald Trump’s agenda.

Late Friday, the Senate confirmed Hegseth as Defense Secretary by the tightest of margins, placing him at the head of roughly three million military and civilian employees and a $1.5 trillion budget. Hegseth’s nomination in mid-November shocked Washington, leading to a two-month assault on his clear history of adultery and partying that also featured allegations of rape, abuse, and mismanagement — all of which Hegseth denied.

Hegseth squeaked out his confirmation by a margin of 51-50 (Vice President J.D. Vance was the deciding vote). As one senior Senate aide told me, the vote was “a way to see which GOP Senators are ready to lead, follow, or get out of the way of President Trump’s agenda — and which ones are looking to sabotage it”.

Unlike most cabinet nominations, this fight was a nail-biter that Hegseth’s opponents fought until the bitter end, hoping to keep the gargantuan Pentagon budget out of the hands of a man who, at best, is a troubled war hero with hopes to fix a horribly broken system and, at worst, a hard-drinking and unqualified abuser who will only add to the national security chaos in DC.

As negative stories dripped into the press about Hegseth, a Fox News host, author, and decorated combat veteran who’s pledged to dramatically reform the Pentagon and root out “wokeness”, his allies started to see his nomination as a parallel to Brett Kavanugh’s infamous Supreme Court bid. When Republican senators like Joni Ernst started to publicly waver, Hegseth and his supporters doubled down, casting the media leaks as a partisan smear campaign that sought to torch the reputation of a decent man. “This is Kavanaugh 2.0,” Hegseth’s friend Mark Lucas told me in December.

Hegseth’s confirmation also paves the groundwork for other Trump nominees. As one aide told me: “Hegseth’s confirmation will make it that much easier for Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and others to survive,” before adding, “President Trump’s popular Executive Order momentum in his first week is making this even more likely.”

There’s an obvious risk of overreach that comes with sugar highs. Republicans, though, seem confident Hegseth won’t burn up their goodwill or halt their momentum. In turn, they hope this will spread to the likes of Gabbard and Kennedy, who will be gearing up for a fierce contest on the Hill.

As Trump’s first week ends on a high note with the public, even after dramatic crackdowns on immigration and DEI, it’s easy to see why the GOP feels comfortable plowing ahead. But the party should not get too far ahead of itself. In the 1950s, the famous anti-communist convert Whittaker Chambers told William F. Buckley that Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s ruthless campaign to root out Soviet sympathisers was “clumsy, stupid, [and] self-defeating”. Chambers’ argument was that overreach on behalf of just causes can backfire by eroding the cause’s credibility.

This is an interesting lesson for Republicans and Democrats alike in the frenzied culture wars of 2025. Does overreach on #MeToo make it easier for real abusers to skate? Will supporting unconventional leaders make unconventional causes with legitimate aims less serious? If so, can you actually accomplish anything without going to these extremes? I won’t pretend to know, but Republicans have spent years asking themselves that last question, and the party’s answer is now clear.


Emily Jashinsky is UnHerd‘s Washington D.C. Correspondent.

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