Contact

Jordan LaPier
Director
(202) 495-3320
jlapier@ourpublicservice.org

Partnership for Public Service statement on the confirmation of defense secretary Pete Hegseth 

January 24, 2025

WASHINGTON – The nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service released the following statement from President and CEO Max Stier on the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as secretary of the Department of Defense. 

“The Partnership for Public Service congratulates Pete Hegseth on his confirmation as the secretary of the Department of Defense, an enormous undertaking involving the national security of the United States as well as overseeing 1.3 million individuals on active duty, 825,000 members of the Reserve and National Guard, and about 600,000 civilian employees,” Stier said. 

“We urge the new defense secretary to not only focus on policy issues and military readiness, but to build a leadership team across the department and its divisions to effectively manage, motivate and engage the civilian workforce that plays a critical role in supporting our nation’s armed forces and addressing a wide range of global challenges,” Stier concluded. 

The Partnership’s Department of Defense agency performance dashboard provides insights about the operations and workforce at the department. Some key data points include:  

  • 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government score and rank: 63.7, ranking 13 out of 17 large agencies   
  • Effective Leadership Score: 67.8, ranking 13 out of 17 large agencies 
  • Number of Senate-confirmed positions: 63  

The Partnership also produces and maintains several resources to assess and analyze the health of the federal government, including a political appointments tracker with The Washington Post that follows the progress of roughly 800 of President Trump’s Senate-confirmed positions. The annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® rankings measure employee engagement government-wide as well as at individual departments, agencies and subcomponents. Additionally, our Vision for a Better Government provides areas of focus for management reforms. 

During the past 24 years, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service has been dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. We work across administrations to help transform the way government works by providing agencies with the data insights they need to succeed, developing effective leaders, inspiring the next generation to public service, facilitating smooth presidential transitions and recognizing exceptional federal employees.     

Visit ourpublicservice.org, follow us @PublicService and subscribe today to get the latest federal news, information on upcoming Partnership programs and events, and more.         

###