midco. >> where are you going? or maybe a better question is, how far do you want to go? and how fast do you want to get there? now we're getting somewhere. so let's go. let's go faster. let's go further. let's go beyond. >> midco supports c-span as a publ service. along with with with these other televisi providers. giving you a ropbt row seat to democracy. >> after a senate confirmation and a 51-50 vote, u.s. defense secretary pete hegseth was sworn in by vice president j.d. advance. a look at his swearing-in ceremony and remarks to reporters upon his arrival at the pentagon.

and no live event coverage here >> good morning, everybody. i'm so happy to be here today and so thrilled to be able to swear in our new secretary of defense. we are honored to have him. before we do that i have to say a few words of appreciation. first of course to the president of the united states for nominating a person who is respected and adored by the war fighters. this is the secretary of defense who will stand up for the men and women we send overseas to fight our nation's wars. i think a lot of them feel they haven't had somebody who's had their back. that will change because the president of the united states nominated this guy and we are grateful to president trump for doing so.

[applause] i also want to say thank you to my senate colleagues. it turns out we couldn't spare one. all of you did an incredible job, in particular my dear friend, roger wicker, thank you for shepherding pete through the committee. roger did a great job. and in addition all of the members of the senate armed services committee who i know gave pete the vetting and the hearing that he deserved. i'm glad that we all ultimately decided that the president's nominee for secretary of defense ought to be our actual actual secretary of defense. we are here today. one final thing, if you look what has separated president trump from so many of the people who came before him, it is the view that, number one, we should be sparing in how we tkphroeu our -- deploy our most precious

resource, the men and women willing to put put on the uniform. we shouldn't send them everywhere. two, when we do send them anywhere, we ought to empower them with the tools necessary to fight and win quickly and come home afterwards. that is what sets this administration apart and that's what pete hegseth represents. finally, i have to thank the nominee himself, pete, thank you for being willing to put yourself out there. i think you have shown yourself a man of deep character and resolve over the last few months. jennifer, thank you for standing by our new secretary of defense. and your beautiful family from your kids to the extended family, you guys did a hell of a job. we are proud of you and we are glad to have you in washington as we work to make america great again. with that let me administer the oath of office.

>> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, pete hegseth, do solemnly swear -- >> i, pete hegseth, do solemnly swear -- >> that i will faithfully that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> that will i support' defend the constitution of the united states. >> against all enemies foreign and domestic. >> against all enemies foreign and tkphesic. >> that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. >> i will bay true faith and allegiance to the same. >> that i take this obligation freely. >> that i take this osama bin on freely. >> without any mental rest sraeugs or purpose of evasion. >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. >> and that i will well and faithfully discharge. >> that i will well and faithfully discharge. >> the duties of the office of which i am about to enter. >> the duties of the office i'm about to enter. >> so help you god.

>> so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. secretary. [applause] secretary hegseth: all praise and glory to god. his will be done. we are grateful to be here. as i said in my hearing it is jesus and jenny. i would not be here without you, sweetheart. thank you so much. i want to thank the president of the united states, our commander in chief, donald trump, who could not have a better commander in chief than him. it is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you. we look forward to having the backs of our troops and having your back in executing peace through strength.

in putting america first. and in rebuilding our military. mr. vice president, thank you for breaking the tie. it's not the last time -- not the first time the headline reads, junior enlisted marine bails out junior army officer. some people were saying, 50-50, that's too tight. senator markwayne mullen was nice enough to take my kids to the gallery to watch the actual moment that the vice president sealed the deal. they came running in, dad, instead of being sad about 50-5. dad, you won in overtime. that's the perspective i like. thank you throughout this process, mr. vice president, for being credible. i want to thank the chairman of the senate armed services committee. so many members of the senate armed services committee. we became fast friends in this

process. the advice, consent, wisdom, guidance. i look forward to working with all of you and other senators to ensure the defense department has what it needs. our nation has what it needs. we are prepared to defend it. in all moments. to my staff, amazing staff, who are with us this entire process, i see so many of you through thick and thin, we used to look at the betting odds every once in a while on this. it was low at one point. never do that. we defied them. there were so many folks on the inside and allies on the outside who stood by us every single moment. we are eternally grateful for that. i want to thank the war fighters. i want to thank the men and women who wear the uniform. i have said this before when i speak and mean it. every time i stand at a paoed yum and bright lights and cameras, the first thing that goes through my head are the guys that i served with on the

battlefield. the men and women who i locked shields with and put my life on the line with, who never get the spotlight. who never had the cameras. meme don't know what they did in dark and dangerous places. but i know. and at the pentagon we'll remember and know. we are going to think about those warriors with every single decision that we make. we will put america first. we will bring peace through strength. and the three principles i talked about are what we will bring to that pentagon. restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do. rebuild our military. and re-establish deterrence. we don't want to fight wars. we want to deter them. we want to end them responsibly. if we need to fight them we are going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and desoy the enemy and bring our boys home -- and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home. [applause]

to my other family that's here as well who i love, it's the honor of a lifetime. i would be remiss if i didn't note one person in this room who doesn't expect to be recognized. captain ruggio was here. he was my company commander and first deployment in tkpwaut guantanamo bay. he was there on june 3, 2003, when i first swore in as a second lieutenant at princeton university. he swore me in. i wanted to make sure he was here today with me as well. thank you very much. [applause] mr. president, thank you very much. to the american people, we have your back. we'll get to work right away. god bless. thank you. vice president vance: that's it. any questions?

reporter: women in the armed services trust you? vice president vance: let me answer that for the new secretary. all people in our armed services should trust him because he looks out for them and going to fight for them and make sure we have the kind of military that we can all be proud in. that we can all be proud of. and again when we send it to do a job we do it well, quickly, and gets the hell out. that's what secretary hegseth will bring to the department of defense. anything else? reporter: are you worried about any of the nominees coming close to the line? vice president vance: as i learned with the buckeyes a week ago, when you win the championship, you don't give a damn what the score was. we won the championship on this one. we have a great secretary of defense. we are proud of him. he's going to do a great job. thank you all. take care. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy visit ncicap.org]