It’s been a wild ride at the Pentagon lately. Honestly, if you’d told anyone three years ago that a former Fox News host would be running the show as the next secretary of defense, they probably would’ve laughed you out of the room. But here we are in January 2026, and Pete Hegseth isn't just in the building—he’s basically tearing it down and rebuilding it in his own image.
He was sworn in on January 25, 2025, after a nail-biting 51-50 Senate vote where JD Vance had to step in as the tie-breaker. It was only the second time in U.S. history a VP had to do that for a Cabinet pick. Since then, the "next" guy has become the "current" guy, and he’s moving fast.
The Rebrand You Probably Missed
Wait, did you hear about the name change? Most people still call it the Department of Defense. But on September 5, 2025, the department officially reverted to its original title: the Department of War. Hegseth says it’s about "restoring the warrior ethos." He’s not interested in the "alphabet soup" of bureaucracy. He wants "door kickers."
It’s a vibe shift.
You’ve got a Secretary who spent years on your TV screen now managing 1.3 million active-duty troops and a budget that’s creeping toward a trillion dollars. It's a massive jump from running small veterans' non-profits. Critics, like Senator Jack Reed, have been vocal, saying he lacks the "character and composure" for the job. But Hegseth? He calls it a "coordinated smear campaign." He’s leaning into the disruption.
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The AI Takeover and Elon Musk
If you want to know where the money is going, look at the "Arsenal of Freedom" tour. Hegseth has been hitting the road, stopping at places like Rocket Lab in LA. He’s obsessed with the defense industrial base. Basically, he thinks the old-school contractors are too slow.
Just this month—January 2026—he dropped a bombshell at SpaceX headquarters in Texas. He’s integrating Elon Musk’s AI tool, Grok, into Pentagon networks. Both unclassified and classified.
What the AI Strategy Actually Means
- Eliminating Blockers: He’s given the Chief Digital and AI Office the power to steamroll any policy that slows down tech experimentation.
- Data Decrees: Hegseth is forcing departments to share their data so the AI can "exploit" it for better warfighting.
- AI-First Force: He’s not just adding AI to old ways of working; he wants to "reinvent" how the military fights from the ground up.
The Mark Kelly Legal Firestorm
It hasn't all been smooth sailing, though. Things got messy really fast with the legislative branch. On January 12, 2026, Senator Mark Kelly—yeah, the retired Navy Captain and astronaut—filed a massive lawsuit against Hegseth.
Why?
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Because Hegseth issued Kelly a formal "Secretarial Letter of Censure." It was over a video Kelly made where he reminded troops they have a legal duty to refuse unlawful orders. Hegseth called it "seditious." Now, the Pentagon is trying to review Kelly's retirement grade. If they win, they could strip him of his rank and cut his pension. It’s a huge legal test. Can the next secretary of defense reach back and punish a retired officer who is now a sitting Senator? The courts are going to be busy with that one for a while.
Shaking Up the Innovation Hubs
Before Hegseth, the Pentagon had a thousand different innovation offices. DIU, CDAO, SCO—it was a mess. Mike Brown, the former head of the Defense Innovation Unit, actually said it had become "confusing."
Hegseth’s solution? Consolidate.
He’s putting more power into the hands of Undersecretary Stephen Feinberg. The goal is "lethal innovation." He doesn't want gadgets; he wants weapons that can deter China. He’s also dissolved several committees he deemed "divisive," including the women’s military committee back in late 2025.
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What This Means for the Future
The "new golden age of peace through strength" is the tagline they're using. Whether you love the guy or think he's a disaster, you can't deny he's doing exactly what he promised during those heated confirmation hearings. He’s cutting the "woke" stuff, as he calls it, and pouring every cent into AI, drones, and "warrior" culture.
If you’re tracking the next secretary of defense and what’s coming down the pipe, keep an eye on these specific shifts:
- The Move to Private Doctors: Hegseth has long pushed for veterans to be able to choose private care over the VA. Watch for a massive push for VA privatization in late 2026.
- Space-Based Defense: His recent visits to space companies suggest the next major budget request will be heavily skewed toward orbital assets.
- The Border Mission: The military is already being used to "beef up" security on the U.S.-Mexico border under executive orders Hegseth is overseeing.
The Pentagon—sorry, the Department of War—isn't the same place it was a year ago. It's louder, faster, and much more confrontational.
Actionable Insights:
For those in the defense industry or military tech space, the message is clear: the "status quo" is dead. If your tech doesn't integrate with the new AI-first directive or help with "Drone Dominance," you’re going to find it hard to get a seat at the table. For service members, the focus is shifting back to traditional combat metrics, so expect changes in training and promotion criteria as the "warrior ethos" filters down through the ranks.