Pete Hegseth shined in today's more than 4-hour hearing to become defense secretary. Immediately from the top, he spoke of his mission to restore the Pentagon's warrior ethos, rebuild the military, and restore deterrence on the global stage.

PETE HEGSETH: “When President Trump elected me to this position, the main task he gave me was to restore the warrior culture to the Department of Defense. He, like me, The Pentagon wants it laser focus on lethality, meritocracy, combat responsibility and training. // He believes, and I humbly agree, that it's time to hand over the reins to someone with dusty boots – a change agent.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 09: Fox anchor Pete Hegseth interviews entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel during “FOX & Friends” at Fox News Channel Studios on August 09, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

From another bureaucrat, even a high-ranking general or someone military industry in the boardroom, Mr. Hegseth will be the soldier's defense secretary – highlighting his “dust on boots” experience on the battlefield. Listen:

PETE HEGSETH: “I've led troops in combat. I've been on patrol for days. I've pulled the trigger, heard the whir of bullets, crouched, cuffed insurgents, called in close air support, led medevacs, dodged IEDs, pulled out corpses and knelt on the battlefield, this not academic for me.

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Standards will be high in the Hegseth Pentagon, but he woke up and the DEI will be very low.

Hegseth, a highly decorated veteran who served in the combat zones of both Afghanistan and Iraq, has repeatedly said that fighters prioritize readiness and lethality above all else. Another clip from today:

PETE HEGSETH: “We won World War II with seven four-star generals. Today we have 44 four-star generals. There is an inverse relationship between staff size and staff size. victory on the battlefield. We don't need more bureaucracy at the top. We need more fighters empowered at the bottom.”

There will be financial audits to curb waste, but there will also be targeted spending increases in places like naval vessels and nuclear deterrence and elsewhere.

For more than four hours, all Democrats could do was attack him personally, citing anonymous smears that were never proven.

The Democrats were incredibly partisan. Neither showed any support for Hegseth. And none of the democrats are concerned about Biden's failures in Afghanistan, Russia-Ukraine, the appeasement of Iran, or his whole-hearted support for Israel, or Stand up to China.

One of the themes in the November election was the need for change — in the economy, on illegal immigration, and suddenly on foreign policy, where the world is on fire under Joe Biden.

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Hegseth will be an unconventional change agent at the Pentagon. Even disruptive. This is what the country wants. And he is a man of faith who, like all of us, has made mistakes in the past. But like all of us sinners, he is trying to change himself. Listen:

PETE HEGSETH: “I'm not a perfect person, as I've been saved by Jesus and Jenny by the grace of God. I'm not a perfect person, but redemption is real and I'm ready for God to make me the way I know I am.”

i love it i just love it. And my holy wife knows a thing or two about it. And this riff.

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This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow's introductory commentary in the January 14, 2025, issue of Kudlow.