Hegseth Outlines Top Priorities for Pentagon Under His Leadership

Hegseth said that the priorities he outlined will be accomplished ‘with a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness.’

Pete Hegseth, then the nominee for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington on Jan. 14, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has issued a statement outlining his top priorities at the helm of the Department of Defense after being confirmed by the Senate on Jan. 24 and sworn in by Vice President JD Vance on Jan. 25

“It is the privilege of a lifetime to lead the warriors of the Department of Defense,” Hegseth said in a statement issued on Jan. 25.

“We will put America First, and we will never back down.”

Hegseth offered more details about his commitment to advancing President Donald Trump’s vision of achieving peace through strength. He said he will seek to accomplish Trump’s objective in three ways—“by restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military, and reestablishing deterrence.”

Hegseth said his focus on restoring the warrior ethos would involve rebuilding trust, fostering unity, and maintaining high standards.

“The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose,” he said in the statement.

Further, Hegseth pledged to strengthen the military by better aligning its capabilities with threats, revitalizing the defense industrial base, ensuring financial accountability, and quickly deploying emerging technologies to the battlefield.

“We will remain the strongest and most lethal force in the world,” Hegseth said.

Finally, the defense secretary vowed to restore deterrence through a focus on bolstering homeland defense and working with allies to counter threats from adversaries.

“We will work with allies and partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by communist China, as well as supporting the President’s priority to end wars responsibly and reorient to key threats,” Hegseth said.

China was the only country that Hegseth identified by name in his message, reflecting a view increasingly expressed by members of the U.S. military establishment that the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing investment in capabilities and operational concepts is specifically designed to defeat the United States and its allies.

Former FBI Director Christopher Wray recently called hostile actions by the Chinese regime “the defining threat” of this generation, warning that the margin for error in countering this threat is shrinking rapidly and needs urgent attention.

Calling the current moment in world affairs “dangerous,” Hegseth said that the priorities he outlined will be accomplished “with a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness.”

“Our enemies will neither rest nor relent. And neither will we. We will stand shoulder to shoulder to meet the urgency of this moment,” he said. “Together we will accomplish the President’s mission to deter war, and if necessary, defeat and destroy our enemies.”

Hegseth’s rise to the top of the Pentagon hierarchy comes after a tumultuous Senate confirmation process in which he faced tough questions about his views on whether women should serve in combat and allegations of alcoholism, sexual assault, and financial mismanagement at two veteran nonprofit organizations.

Hegseth was confirmed via a tie-breaking vote cast by Vance in a late-night Senate confirmation session on Jan. 24. It was only the second time in the history of Cabinet secretary confirmations that the vice president had intervened to break a deadlock.

“Mr. Vice President, thank you for breaking the tie,” Hegseth said to Vance after being sworn in at a Jan. 25 ceremony at the White House, while pledging to “restore the warrior ethos” to the Pentagon.

“We don’t want to fight wars, we want to deter them,” Hegseth said. “But if we need to fight them we’re going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home.”