Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived on Monday for his first full day leading the Pentagon, vowing to support President Trump’s priorities of sealing the U.S. border with Mexico, using military planes to deport migrants with uncertain or contested legal status and increasing the military’s combat readiness.
The Pentagon last week rushed 1,500 active-duty Marines and Army soldiers to the southwestern border, joining 2,500 forces already there. Mr. Hegseth predicted that more would be on the way soon to help build barriers and support law enforcement.
“Whatever is needed at the border will be provided,” Mr. Hegseth told reporters after he stepped out of his car at the Pentagon. “This is a shift. It’s not the way business has been done in the past.”
He added that the Defense Department supported “the defense of the territorial integrity of the United States of America at the southern border, to include reservist National Guard and active duty, in compliance with the Constitution, the laws of our land and the directives of the commander.”
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 forbids the use of armed forces for law enforcement purposes on U.S. soil, unless Congress or the Constitution expressly authorizes it.
The main exception to the Posse Comitatus Act is the Insurrection Act. The more than 200-year-old law grants the president power to deploy the military domestically when faced with “unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion” that prevent the execution of federal or state laws.
When asked about invoking the Insurrection Act, Mr. Hegseth did not rule it out and said the White House would make such decisions.
Mr. Hegseth also said the Pentagon would “absolutely continue” to use military aircraft to deport undocumented migrants from the United States. The military’s participation in these flights started last week, with two flights of migrants to Guatemala. In the past, they had been carried out by commercial and charter flights.
On Sunday, under threats from Mr. Trump that included steep tariffs, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia relented and agreed to allow U.S. military planes to fly deportees into the country, after turning two transports back in response to what Mr. Petro called inhumane treatment.
Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, greeted Mr. Hegseth warmly at the Pentagon at 9 a.m. on Monday. Mr. Hegseth has suggested that General Brown, a four-star fighter pilot with decades of military experience, should be fired. But when asked whether he would dismiss General Brown or any of the other Joint Chiefs, Mr. Hegseth patted the general on the shoulder. “I’m standing with them right now,” he said.
“Our job is lethality and readiness and for fighting,” said Mr. Hegseth, who has vowed to bring a “warrior ethos” to the U.S. military but has yet to provide details. “We’re going to hold people accountable.”
Mr. Hegseth promised on Monday that “more executive orders” from Mr. Trump were coming, including one to reinstate thousands of troops who were kicked out for refusing Covid vaccines during the pandemic.
Confusion over new anti-diversity efforts at the Pentagon started even before Mr. Hegseth began his first official day at work.
Mr. Hegseth, as expected, used one of his first directives over the weekend to echo the Trump administration’s now familiar refrain about banishing diversity, equity and inclusion programs and making sure the employees those programs seek to promote do not sneak in under other guises.
But after posting on social media that anyone who did not comply with the Trump directive would be fired, the new defense secretary had to do some quick cleanup.
The Air Force had responded to the Trump orders last week by removing two videos that taught basic training students about the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Air Force Service Pilots, both groups that fought during World War II.
But there was a backlash to the move. Senator Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, called it “malicious compliance” with Mr. Trump’s directive and reminded Mr. Hegseth that the president had previously honored the Tuskegee Airmen.
“President Trump celebrated and honored the Tuskegee Airmen during his first term,” Ms. Britt wrote on social media.
At about the same time, Mr. Hegseth wrote: “Amen! We’re all over it Senator. This will not stand.”
On Sunday, the Air Force said it would resume instruction of the videos.
In his comments on Monday, Mr. Hegseth used the former names of two Army bases that had honored Confederate officers.
“Every moment that I’m here, I’m thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, in Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, on missile defense sites and aircraft carriers,” he said. “Our job is lethality and readiness and warfighting.”
The bases he cited were both renamed as part of an effort to remove honorifics for people who had rebelled against the Union during the Civil War.
Fort Benning, near Columbus, Ga., had been named for Henry L. Benning, a Confederate general. In 2023, it was renamed Fort Moore in honor of Lt. Gen. Harold Moore, who earned a Distinguished Service Cross in Vietnam, and his wife, Julia, who championed reforms for caring for the surviving family members of service members who are killed or wounded.
Also in 2023, the Army’s base near Fayetteville, N.C., known since 1918 as Camp Bragg and then Fort Bragg in honor of Braxton Bragg of the Confederate Army, was renamed Fort Liberty.
Mr. Trump has pledged to restore the Confederate names of the bases. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for clarification of Mr. Hegseth’s remarks.
On Sunday, Mr. Hegseth spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, in what is believed to be his first call with a world leader since being sworn in on Saturday.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office issued a statement congratulating Mr. Hegseth on his appointment. In his own statement, Mr. Hegseth said the United States was fully committed to ensuring “that Israel has the capabilities it needs to defend itself.”
On Friday, the White House told the Pentagon that it could proceed with a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel that President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had abruptly halted last summer to try to dissuade the Israeli military from destroying much of the city of Rafah. Israeli forces went ahead with bombing the city.
In his Senate confirmation hearing this month, Mr. Hegseth said that he backed Israel’s war in Gaza and supported “Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas.”
Mr. Hegseth was confirmed late Friday by a 51-50 vote, the smallest margin for a defense secretary’s confirmation since the position was created in 1947, according to Senate records. Vice President JD Vance had to cast a tiebreaking vote after three Republicans joined all Democrats in voting no.
John Ismay contributed reporting.
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