Trump nominates Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, catching DC off guard

President-elect Donald Trump stunned much of the Pentagon and Washington, D.C. Tuesday when he announced Pete Hegseth was his pick to be defense secretary.

Trump passed on a number of established national security heavy-hitters and chose the 44-year-old Army National Guard captain who's well known in conservative circles as a co-host of Fox News Channel’s "Fox & Friends Weekend."

Here is some initial reaction from insiders in Washington: 

Military officials

Military officials said the choice came out of the blue, the Associated Press reported. 

A senior military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said Hegseth's selection is raising concerns about whether he has the practical experience to manage a large department with an enormous budget.

The Defense Department has a budget exceeding $800 billion, with about 1.3 million active-duty troops and another 1.4 million in the National Guard, Reserves and civilian employees based worldwide.

Hegseth has served in the military, although not in the capacity of senior military or national security experience.

RELATED: How does Pete Hegseth's experience compare to previous defense secretaries?

Members of Congress

Trump’s nomination for Hegseth must still be approved by Congress, with several customary rounds of questioning and review by Senate committees before heading to the Senate floor for vote. 

Here is how some members of the Senate responded: 

Democratic response

"I confess I didn’t know who he was until 20 minutes ago," Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, reportedly said to reporters. "And he certainly doesn’t seem to have any background whatsoever in DOD policy."

Smith said that while Hegseth's combat experience is a plus, running the Pentagon requires a lot of other skill sets, and his nomination will need some time for consideration.

"What’s your plan? What are you going to do? ... How can you assure us that that lack of experience, you know, isn’t going to make it impossible for you to do the job?" Smith said. "I think those are questions that need to be answered over the next couple of months."

Republican response

While some Republican lawmakers had a muted response to the announcement, others called his combat experience an asset or said he was "tremendously capable."

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis called the choice "interesting." Indiana Sen. Todd Young, who served in the Marine Corps, said, "I don’t know much about his background or his vision, so I look forward to learning more."

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said he’s not surprised that Trump chose Hegseth because Trump is "close to him and likes him and trusts him."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Hegseth brings a lot to the table and will be "reform-minded in the areas that need reform."

"I’m not going to be negative right now, because I want to learn more about his background and his approach to this stuff. So he’ll go through the regular process," Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told Politico. "But so far, [Trump]'s done an excellent job of choosing people that fit the mold that he wants for the different departments.

What Hegseth has said

Hegseth has not posted publicly any reaction to the appointment. 

He has pushed for making the military more lethal, and political experts say he could bring sweeping changes.

Hegseth opposes programs that promote inclusion and he questions the role of women in combat.

While he said diversity in the military is a strength, he said it was because minority and white men can perform similarly but the same isn't true for women.

By opening combat slots to women, "we’ve changed the standards in putting them there, which means you’ve changed the capability of that unit," Hegseth said in an interview on "The Shawn Ryan Show" podcast.