Iowa's Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Tuesday she will vote to confirm Pete Hegseth to lead the ... is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at [email protected] ...

Hegseth was confirmed as Secretary of Defense Friday night after a tight Senate vote that had Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tiebreaking vote.

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.

Lake's homecoming to the state initially came as Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, faced intense backlash from President Donald Trump supporters over her hesitation to back the now recently confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Ernst ended speculation by publicly declaring her vote for Hegseth.

Pete Hegseth is closer to Senate confirmation as Trump's Defense secretary despite controversy and allegations of serious impropriety.

In brief remarks, he outlined what he said were his guiding principles: “Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence.”

With votes expected late evening, the Republican-led Senate is determined to install Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran, and round out President Donald Trump's top national security Cabinet officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe won confirmation within days of Trump's return to the White House.

President Donald Trump's nomination of Forest Lake native Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense was approved after a 50-50 tie in the Senate was broken by Vice President JD Vance.

Pete Hegseth ... He was also questioned about the issue by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iraq veteran and a survivor of sexual assault. Hegseth reiterated an earlier promise to Ernst that he will ...

An event for Kari Lake in Iowa was conveniently canceled after wayward Sen. Joni Ernst voted to confirm Trump's Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

President Donald Trump should rethink his decision to remove security details from three former senior national security officials,

From activists on the far right to Elon Musk, allies of President Donald Trump have been quick to threaten primary challengers for Republican senators who don't back his Cabinet picks and legislative priorities.