A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

Pete Hegseth became the new secretary of Defense on Friday after Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. Three Republican senators joined all Democrats in voting no on the confirmation — Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski,

He has denied the accusations, dismissing them as part of a smear campaign in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. On Tuesday, an ex-sister-in-law of Mr. Hegseth submitted a sworn statement to senators accusing him of being “abusive” toward his second wife.