President-elect Donald Trump announced that he is nominating Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be his secretary of defense, an unexpected selection that sent shock waves through Capitol Hill.

The announcement was met with initial surprise, but quick acceptance from congressional Republicans. Hegseth’s name had not been included in any public information about the role either apparently not contacted about the job until monday. Hegseth’s selection marks a significant departure from the rest of Trump’s national security team, which has been largely made up of current and former members of Congress.

Hegseth is an Army National Guard officer who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay; major in the Army Reserve; a graduate of Princeton and Harvard; twice awarded the Bronze Star; a longtime conservative activist and veteran; and a short-lived candidate for the US Senate. But he is best known for his role at Fox News, where he is currently the weekend host.

Hegseth has no apparent leadership experience at the scale of a massive agency, and no known experience in policymaking or analysis, aside from a brief stint at the Manhattan Institute.

He reportedly served as an adviser to Trump on military issues in his first term, notably urging pardons for service members accused of war crimes, and was considered to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Several MPs said Jewish Insider they were not sufficiently familiar with Hegseth to offer their respective opinions.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called the pick “interesting” without commenting further.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) answered“Wow,” and she said she was surprised.

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) said, “I don’t have a clue about his background or his vision for the department.” He did not elaborate.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), told reporters of the election, said“Oh, really? … I should think about it.”

But Senate Republicans, who met to discuss their next majority leader when Hegseth’s nomination was announced, appeared to quickly agree on the choice, indicating Hegseth has a strong chance of confirmation.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told JI, “I think he’s going to be a very strong defense secretary.” Pressed on his qualifications, Ernst said, “he served in the 34th Infantry Division, which is also based in Minnesota and Iowa.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) told JI that “the combination of Mike Waltz and Pete Hegseth is going to be powerful,” adding, “these guys are focused on lethality and peace through force and going after our real adversaries. Read his biography, it will be a good combination.”

Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) said was going to consider nominating Hegseth while admitting he didn’t know much about the Fox News host.

“I’m going to look at his bio, but I certainly think he’s very impressive at this stage of the game. I’m excited to go back and meet him, talk to him, but I think the president has made some excellent choices so far,” Rounds told JI.

“We’ll do our due diligence, but I’m not going to start by complaining,” Rounds continued. “I want to know more about him myself, but he certainly seems like he has good experience and one that would be useful. We need some energy there in the Department of Defense and clearly we need to have a different direction than where we’re going now.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said he was “surprised” by the news of Hegseth’s nomination, adding that he planned to reach out directly later Tuesday night and was excited about the choice.

“I was surprised. I didn’t talk to him. I’ll text him as soon as I get out of here. I think it’s consistent with the whole peace through power and Donald Trump’s America First way of negotiating every situation through power,” Cramer told JI. “It’s consistent with the rest of the election. I think it’s great. He will need help. He’s going to run a very, very, very large, diverse and tough department, but he’s got that Trump doctrine down, that’s for sure.”

“I like Pete. I am grateful for his service and strong leadership,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

When asked by JI about Hegseth’s nomination, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) responded, “This is the first I’ve heard of it, so I’d have to think about it. I saw it on TV. I don’t know that much about his background. He’s obviously a veteran, one of our best, so it’s not a bad deal.”

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, whose name had been put forward for the position, said he did not know Hegseth and had never met him.

Rep. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member of the Armed Services, said he had “no idea who (Hegseth) is” before the pick was announced, that “Hegseth’s lack of experience is troubling” and that he concerned” that he doesn’t seem to have a particular background around DoD, but I guess we’ll see what he has to say.”

Smith added that Hegseth appeared to lack the managerial experience to run “the biggest bureaucracy in the world” and had no apparent relationships with overseas partners, which Smith said would be essential given the multiple conflicts currently underway. He said Hegseth’s military experience was “helpful” but also stressed the principle of civilian control of the military and said the skills involved were significantly different.

Hegseth advocated an aggressive approach to Iran, cheering on Trump in early 2020 to threaten attacks on Iranian infrastructure, oil facilities, nuclear facilities and potential cultural sites if they are used for weapons storage.

“If we’re going to fight to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, this regime, then we have to rewrite the rules that are advantageous to us,” he said, suggesting that international laws are “designed to help (Iran) so we can’t win.”

Hegseth said more recently that the US should allow Israel to attack Iran and remove any restrictions on it.

IN A interview with Jewish press in 2016Hegseth emphasized his evangelical upbringing and said his military service taught him “where Israel fits in and where anti-Semitism comes from” and to appreciate the Jewish people and Israel.

“I understand how geopolitically connected we are and how important it is to be with such a strong ally,” he continued.

He offered praise for Israel’s “general sense of purpose” and said the US could learn a lot from its ally.

“God’s people in the state of Israel understand their role,” Hegseth continued. “This understanding strengthens their ability to defend free people, democracy and self-government – ​​all core principles of the West. When I look at Israel, these are the principles I absorb and say we need to remind America.”

Hegseth expressed concern at the time about the toleration and promotion of anti-Semitism in higher education and recently hosted a Fox streaming series on the issue, investigating anti-Semitic protests on campus.

Hegseth was a critical of US funding to Ukraine, accusing the administration of ignoring domestic issues. On Fox in 2022, Hegseth said the war in Ukraine “pales in comparison to the crime I see on my streets, the awakening I see in my culture, the inflation I see in my pocket, the real border at which hold , which is the southern border, which is wide open.”

He was too openly against diversity efforts at the Pentagon and called for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and any senior officer involved in diversity programs to be fired.

Leading voices in the conservative foreign policy space are also lining up behind the choice.

Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called Hegseth “a great choice.”

Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at FDD who served on the National Security Council in the first Trump administration, said Hegseth is “a true patriot and a great American. Aligned with the views and values ​​of the president and other key national security nominees. Great instincts.”

Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, saidciting Hegseth’s recent comments that observers should “expect more US support for Israel and covert actions and sabotage operations”, calling Hegseth’s approach “Ayatollah Khamenei’s worst nightmare”.