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.

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.”

Passengers aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River included figure skaters returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and

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.

Despite the controversy surrounding his past behavior, former veteran and FOX News host Pete Hegseth has been confirmed as the new defense secretary in President Donald Trump’s cabinet.

A Nigerian man has been extradited to the US to face charges in the “sextortion” of a South Carolina teen who died by suicide in 2022. Prosecutors allege the scammer posed as a young woman, persuaded 17-year-old Gavin Guffey to send him nude photos and then threatened to publicize them if Guffey didn’t send money.

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,

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated PressPete Hegseth was sworn in Saturday as the nation's 29th secretary of defense, quickly joining Presid