Many Americans believe Washington, D.C. is broken. And I’m right there with them. Since coming to the Senate in 2021, I’ve seen our government working largely to benefit only a small group of people—bureaucrats, career politicians, special interests, and the elites of society.
Thankfully, on November 5th, nearly 77 million Americans joined me in taking a stand to say enough is enough. The American people gave President Trump a mandate to get Washington working for the people again. We chose President Trump because he isn’t interested in the same old, same old in this town. No more business as usual.
President Trump is already shaking things up in Washington. By nominating Pete Hegseth as the next Secretary of Defense, President Trump answered the call of the American people by nominating someone who is not beholden to the Military Industrial Complex. Pete Hegseth will be a leader for everyone serving in the military—not just the military elites. We don’t need another Admiral, General, or “person of high command” interested in appeasing the elites. We need a drill sergeant, someone who’s been in the trenches. That man is Pete Hegseth, and he is just the change agent America needs to clean up the DOD.
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Over the last four years, we have seen the Biden-Harris administration do all it can to remake the military into a left-wing social experiment at the expense of our national security. Don’t believe me? In 2024, the Biden Pentagon requested a jaw-dropping $114.7 million for its DEI programs. To put that in perspective, that’s about what it costs to cover the 26,000-square-foot expansion to a missile integration facility in Huntsville, which is expected to bring 185 new jobs to the area.
We’ve also seen the DOD wrongfully fire 8,000 military service members who had legitimate concerns about taking experimental vaccines. The DOD has also spent countless taxpayer dollars to fund abortions and transgender procedures. Perhaps most egregious is that the DOD failed its seventh consecutive audit in a row, unable to account for its $824 billion budget. Running the DOD like a liberal human resources department comes at a devastating cost. Our recruitment numbers have collapsed, likely as a result of the DOD’s emphasis on progressive priorities.
With recruitment tanking, what better way to inspire young men and women to join the most lethal fighting force in the world than by nominating a decorated veteran who served in two wars and is closer to their age? Someone who relates to them and looks like them. Who is more likely to inspire confidence in 18-to-21-year-olds in the military: old, out-of-touch, stuffy, and arrogant military higher-ups or a younger guy who’s been on the battlefield, shoulder-to-shoulder in the mud with the infantry? I’m willing to bet young people would rather sign up to follow the second man into battle.
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As a coach, I know that players win games on the field, not the coaches. Similarly, in the military, soldiers win wars on the battleground, not the generals. Pete Hegseth has what it takes to get soldiers to buy into the mission and reverse the recruitment disaster this administration has caused.
And of course, the list of problems at the DOD doesn’t end there. We also witnessed the Biden–Harris DOD carelessly execute a disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, which resulted in the death of 13 service members. Four years later, there has still been zero accountability for this tragic and costly failure.
When you combine these failings, you no longer have a lethal fighting force or well-oiled killing machine that is feared by our adversaries. You end up with a compromised force and a more dangerous world—and we’re already seeing the devastating results. Since Biden took office, Russia invaded Ukraine, Iran-backed Hamas brutally attacked Israel, Syria faces a revolution, and China is threatening to invade Taiwan and spread its influence across Africa and South America.
America can’t afford this outdated type of leadership at the DOD to continue any longer. If we’re honest with ourselves, we haven’t won a war since World War 2 due to this style of leadership. It could result in even more devastating consequences, especially as the outgoing administration has the United States teetering on the brink of World War 3. Pete Hegseth will change the disastrous course the DOD has charted under the Biden-Harris regime. He will restore our military to its core mission and bring accountability, true leadership, and fresh ideas to the DOD—and it can’t come soon enough.
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Which is why I am asking my Senate Republican colleagues to support Pete Hegseth’s nomination. I could go on all day highlighting the incompetence of the current leadership at DOD. But Pete Hegseth is highly qualified for this role in his own right. He is a decorated veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s got the brains to boot, attending Princeton University where he also played basketball on a team that made the NCAA tournament, and then went on to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Pete Hegseth is a patriot. He was born to serve our country in this position. I trust he will surround himself with the right personnel to fully deliver on what the American people sent President Trump back to the White House to accomplish. With Secretary Pete Hegseth at the helm, our military will be strong again. It will be respected again. And it will be feared by our adversaries around the world.
Doing what’s best for the military in Alabama is my top priority. The military is near and dear to me. I come from a military family. I represent 13,000 active-duty service members, over 25,000 National Guard and reserve members, and over 400,000 veterans in my state. Alabama is also home to five different military bases. I know Pete Hegseth, and I know he is the best choice to achieve this objective—for both my state of Alabama and for America.
I hope my Republican colleagues will honor the wish of the American people, and President Trump, by confirming Pete Hegseth to this critical position. Dramatic change at the DOD is needed immediately, and Pete Hegseth is just the man for the job.
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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