In the past five years, our world has become dramatically more unstable.
With massive conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and U.S.-Russia relations at a low not seen since the Cold War, America is facing increasingly dangerous threat levels. These threats should be met only with the most competent people to defend our country, and Pete Hegseth is not the secretary of defense Americans need to keep them safe.
Being secretary of defense means being put in charge of the United States military, and involves duties such as overseeing our armed forces and managing military resources. With 1.4 million active U.S. military personnel and a budget of $776 million, the U.S. military is arguably one of the hardest organizations for even the best manager to handle.
Hegseth, unfortunately, has a history of mismanagement and incompetence leading organizations 7,000 times smaller than the most powerful military in the world. At most, Pete Hegseth has been in charge of a 200-person non-governmental organization called Veterans for Freedom and, according to The New Yorker, finances that were under his care at this organization didn’t do so well.
In January of 2009, Hegseth wrote to the organization’s donors taking full responsibility for the $434,833 hole the group was now in in unpaid bills. With less than $1,000 for Veterans for Freedom to spend, Hegseth was slowly pushed out of his job there. And though Hegseth has said if he becomes secretary of defense he would surround himself with people smarter than him, the point of that position is not to find out the answers to pressing security and financial questions from other people, but to already know those answers and their histories.
Being incredibly educated on current and past conflicts is yet another massive job for a secretary of defense, who is responsible for setting a defense strategy with the sitting president. To set a competent strategy, a great deal of information is demanded. Hegseth is, unfortunately, lacking in this department as well.
When asked in his confirmation hearing what the number of active duty service members in the Navy was, Hegseth could only guess. And though not many people would be expected to have that number memorized, someone with experience working in the field of national security would likely have a better chance at remembering important pieces of information such as these.
A former news commentator is not only an unconventional choice for secretary of defense but strikingly less qualified than, say, someone who has worked as an ambassador (Frank Carlucci of the Reagan administration), as a high-up intelligence analyst (Robert Gates of the Bush administration) or as director of the CIA (Leon Panetta of the Obama administration).
Of the many duties of the secretary of defense, another is leading international security negotiations. Hegseth has never taken part in any international security negotiations, nor could he name any of the three major types when questioned at his hearing. When asked to name a single member country of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) bloc, a major United States trading partner, Hegseth, disturbingly, could not name one.
Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who questioned Hegseth. In his five terms, Democratic Sen. Reed has voted to confirm all eight nominees for secretary of defense he has had a say on, including Donald Trump’s first nomination. Last week, he told Hegseth, “I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.” Nor do longtime conservative commentator David Brooks or Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs fighting in Iraq.
When American enemies watch confirmation hearings such as these looking for any kind of weakness in a possible new sheriff in town, it sends signals that our country is vulnerable. In Donald Trump’s campaign for president, he promised veterans to uphold the work they did to keep our country safe. And if Trump’s nomination of Hegseth is any indicator, he has long forgotten that promise. America’s elected representatives need to remember their promise to keep our citizens safe before it is too late, and in Maine that can start with Susan Collins.
As a Republican, her vote on Hegseth’s confirmation has immense power, as Hegseth can only afford to lose three Republican votes. For the safety of Mainers everywhere, Collins must remember her duty to protect those she represents and block this dangerous choice for secretary of defense.
Maine residents can help her remember her responsibilities by writing short emails to her office expressing their opinions, to show that Maine citizens are watching the choices Sen. Collins makes with the power they give her. The time to do this is now, before America has a secretary of defense unable to protect us.
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Publish date : 2025-01-23 20:00:00
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