U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy announced Friday that he would vote to confirm Pete Hegseth to lead the U.S. Department of Defense.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, has publicly faced senators for the first time.

By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, endured fierce Democratic grilling over everything from his inexperience,

Pete Hegseth faced an important test on Tuesday — but he didn't just have to prove himself to the senators who immediately began sparring over his nomination as defense secretary.

Notably, Gabbard questioned the US intelligence community’s assessments that Assad was behind a deadly chlorine gas attack the same year she met with the Syrian strongman, to which Trump said at the time: “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons.”

During testimony in the United States Senate on Tuesday, Pete Hegseth, former Fox News personality turned president-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Defense, refused to answer a question regarding whether he’d follow an order from Trump to shoot at demonstrators.

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be held indoors Monday at the Capitol due to dangerously cold temperatures. Follow for live updates on the final days of the presidential transition.

Donald Trump’s choices for the federal government roles range from conspiracy theorists to ones who are clearly unqualified. However, his most has to be Pete Hegseth. The former Fox News host is Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense.

It's unclear who'll take over at the Pentagon and the military services when the top leaders all step down Monday as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.

Former fighter pilot and U.S. Space Force commander Matthew Lohmeier will serve as Air Force undersecretary, according to a Truth Social post from President-elect Donald Trump.