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.

Vice President Vance cast a tie-breaking vote as Hegseth overcame allegations of sexual assault, public drunkenness and questions of financial mismanagement to win Senate approval.