Washington Examiner | Op-Ed 

Rep. August Pfluger | January 13, 2025 

At the hands of President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the nation has witnessed one foreign policy disaster after the next. The duo’s catastrophic decision-making and military execution has left Americans dead, our military vulnerable, and our adversaries emboldened. To right the ship and steer America back on course, the next defense secretary must be a new kind of leader, one that will restore a foreign policy strategy of deterrence and peace through strength.   

Army National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the job and the new kind of leader we need. It comes as no surprise, however, that as the Senate Armed Services Committee prepares for Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, Democrats are deploying their familiar playbook of objections. But their arguments ring hollow given the department’s track record under their watch.

Let us examine the facts: Under Austin’s tenure, the Pentagon failed four audits, with only 40% of approximately $3.8 trillion in assets being auditable. The Government Accountability Office flagged weapons acquisition programs for vulnerability to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. The Pentagon was left without a leader for several days when Austin failed to alert anyone of his hospital visit. Furthermore, our military faces declining recruitment and retention, major program delays, and a credibility crisis following the plethora of the Biden administration’s failures.

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