Pete Hegseth and other appointees of President-elect Donald Trump headed to the Senate this week for hearings. In particular Hegseth – tapped by Trump to lead the Department of Defense – faced scrutiny.

The executive orders mirror recommendations in Project 2025, a policy blueprint issued last year by the Heritage Foundation think tank.

Both U.S. senators representing Illinois slammed the confirmation of Pete Hegseth to be the new defense secretary.

The Department of Defense ... The order came with President Donald Trump's approval from the White House and will remain in place until his pick for defense secretary is confirmed and directs ...

WASHINGTON – Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Pentagon ... lower the standards so he can do the job," Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-IL., told USA TODAY.

Michael Duffey, Trump's nominee to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, served as the associate director at the Office of Management and Budget during Trump's first term.

That relationship is raising questions among some senators about whether the nominee will follow the law if confirmed.

The order reinstates a policy from Trump's first term that prohibited trans people from enlisting and barred those already in the military from transitioning.

Pennsylvania's junior senator must show he is willing to put the Constitution first. His vote for Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense bodes ill.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to revise the Pentagon’s policy on transgender troops.

Historically, nominees for cabinet posts have been career politicians, bureaucrats, or academics with relevant experience or expertise. An example is former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a onetime construction worker and union boss who was nominated,