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The pick, unveiled Tuesday, drew immediate pushback from some influential veterans groups and current and former lawmakers, who suggested that Hegseth’s ideological leanings, rather than any demonstrated expertise, lay behind him being tapped to run the vast U.S. defense complex.

In the just-ended campaign, Trump also hammered the outgoing administration — first President Biden, and then Vice President Kamala Harris when she took up the fight after Biden dropped out — over the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban takeover, insisting that those who oversaw the pullout should have been fired.

It was Trump, however, who had set the U.S. departure from Afghanistan in motion, setting a timetable that left his successor in office with a narrow range of options.

“Elon was texting me this morning. Think about having the brain of Elon Musk to sacrifice his time away from his businesses to help every single American make government more efficient, more accountable,” McCarthy said.

“Elon doesn’t benefit from government, America has benefited from Elon,” he added.