I haven’t criticized former clients, but watching my old friend debase himself before a manifestly unqualified Pentagon nominee forces my hand.

"We must not underestimate the importance of having a top-shelf communicator as secretary of defense," Wicker said.

Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Armed Services Chair ... President-elect Donald Trump nominated Fox News host Hegseth to be the new Secretary of Defense. His hearing Tuesday, Jan. 14, was the first ...

Hegseth, 44, is a combat veteran and former Fox News host. The committee voted along party lines to advance his nomination to the full Senate.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) appeared satisfied with Pete Hegseth's testimony at his confirmation hearing for the secretary of defense post. Wicker chaired a bombastic meeting where senators highlighted accusations against Hegseth for sexual misconduct,

Hegseth is set to begin confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill. In his opening statement obtained by NBC News, he leans into his outside perspective. “It’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm,” he is expected to say. NBC’s Ryan Nobles reports for "TODAY."

For the last 50 years, almost every nominee to lead the Pentagon has been a consensus pick who drew lopsided margins of support in the Senate. Pete Hegseth’s nomination has been a notable exception.

His attorney, Timothy Parlatore, declined to comment Thursday on the dollar figure, which was previously unknown.

Senators voted 51-49 to advance Hegseth's defense secretary bid, which has been mired in several controversies. Two Republicans oppose him.

Those binders full of executive orders that President Donald Trump has been signing with a flourish in recent days don’t just magically appear before him.

Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) raised concerns with a reported Immigration and Custom Enforcement raid of an establishment in Newark in which undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens