As President-elect Donald Trump continues to shape his second administration, he is delivering on his mandate to shake up the status quo and select Cabinet members with the leadership experience that America needs. Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard are effective leaders, patriots, and fighters who know and have what it takes to fix America’s most important institutions.
Derrick Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL with five combat deployments, expressed his admiration for Pete and Tulsi, highlighting their military strategy, intelligence community knowledge, and understanding of the dangers faced abroad. He emphasized their shared goal of making America safe and strong again, especially against the country’s biggest adversaries.
Van Orden, along with hundreds of veterans, supports Ms. Gabbard as the right choice to lead the intelligence community. As a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve with three deployments, she has seen the true cost of war and fought to end the “forever wars” as a member of the House Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Foreign Affairs committees. Gabbard is known for her tough, principled, and independent stance, unafraid to stand up to the political establishment.
Ms. Gabbard is also committed to protecting Americans’ constitutional rights and stopping the political weaponization of the government against the people. Concerns about privacy abuses under the Biden administration, particularly by the FBI and the National Security Agency, have been highlighted as unacceptable.
Similarly, Mr. Hegseth is seen as the right pick to lead the Pentagon. As a former member of the Army National Guard and a combat-tested leader, he understands the challenges and gaps in the defense system. His work through organizations such as Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America aligns with efforts to support veterans through legislation like the Warriors to Workforce Act.
Mr. Hegseth has earned the trust of more than 100 Navy SEAL veterans who believe he is the man for the job. He is committed to ensuring that troops are taken care of, avoiding unnecessary global conflicts, and restoring lethality as the primary metric at the Department of Defense.
Van Orden emphasized the need for strong, decisive leadership to address the failures caused by weak leadership on the world stage, such as the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. He believes that Mr. Hegseth and Ms. Gabbard have what it takes to root out incompetence and corruption in the military and intelligence community, ensuring that mistakes like the Afghanistan withdrawal never happen again.
The failures seen in recent years, including botched military operations, ineffective foreign policy, and declining trust in defense institutions, are attributed to career politicians and bureaucrats making decisions based on politics rather than the realities of war. Van Orden calls for rejecting the status quo and choosing leaders who have served and sacrificed for the country.
Van Orden boldly supports Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard for their key roles, believing they will bring back competence, accountability, and trust in government. He urges Congress to confirm them without delay, stating that America deserves nothing less.