WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s younger brother is serving in a key position inside the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser, Hegseth's office confirmed.

The high-profile job has meant meetings with a UFC fighting champion, a trip to Guantanamo Bay and, right now, traveling on the Pentagon's 747^[1] aircraft as Hegseth makes his first trip as defense secretary to the Indo-Pacific.

Phil Hegseth's official title is senior adviser to the secretary for the Department of Homeland Security and liaison officer to the Defense Department, spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson said in a statement Thursday.

“Phil Hegseth, one of a number of talented DHS liaisons to DOD, is conducting touch points with U.S. Coast Guard officials on the Secretary’s Indo-Pacific trip," which includes stops in Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines and Japan, Wilson said in response to a query by The Associated Press.

Border security, the responsibility of DHS, has been highlighted as one of the top priorities for President Donald Trump, and thousands of U.S. troops have been deployed to the border to assist DHS with curbing illegal immigration.

Liaison roles are common 

It's common for the Defense Department and other federal agencies to have liaisons. Each military branch sends liaisons to Capitol Hill. The Pentagon, State Department and others all use interagency liaisons to more closely coordinate and keep tabs on policy.

But it is not common for those senior-level positions to be filled by family members of the Cabinet heads, said Michael Fallings, a managing partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC, which specializes in federal employment law.

Based on Phil Hegseth's publicly available resume, his past experience includes founding his own podcast production company, Embassy and Third, and working on social media and podcasts at The Hudson Institute^[2].

It’s not the first time Phil Hegseth has worked alongside his older brother. When Pete Hegseth^[3] was CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit that fell into financial difficulty during his time there, he paid his brother $108,000 to do media relations for the organization, according to federal tax records.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Phil Hegseth's job title and said this “interagency mission is part of Mr. Hegseth's preview,” presumably meaning “purview.”

DHS said Phil Hegseth, while on the Indo-Pacific trip, has been meeting with representatives from Homeland Security Investigations, the law enforcement arm of the department, “and other DHS components and interagency partners."

The Pentagon did not respond to a request to interview Phil Hegseth. Neither the Pentagon nor the Department of Homeland Security has responded to queries about his qualifications for the job..

A close ally to the secretary 

He has been his brother's close ally, appearing alongside him throughout his fraught confirmation process in the Senate. In photos, as Pete Hegseth walked the halls of Congress, Phil Hegseth is often right there by his side.

He now has offices just down the hall from him along the Pentagon's E-Ring, according to a U.S. official familiar with the office location, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Photos posted by the defense secretary's official Flickr account show Phil Hegseth at the secretary's table as he met with officials or high-profile guests, including Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Conor McGregor this month.

He traveled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with Pete Hegseth in February.

Nepotism laws guide government hiring 

A 1967 federal nepotism law prohibits government officials from hiring, promoting or recommending relatives to any civilian position over which they exercise control.

An image of an office organizational chart obtained by The Associated Press shows Phil Hegseth in a small group of officials directly beneath his brother, with Phil Hegseth labeled as a senior adviser to the defense secretary.

Further review of Phil Hegseth's hiring would be needed to determine if it ran afoul of federal nepotism laws, “but it does not pass the smell test,” Fallings said.

However, if he is wholly employed by DHS, that "would avoid a nepotism violation, unless it can be shown that (Pete) Hegseth was involved in the hiring or had asserted his authority to help hire his brother.”

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it wholly employs Phil Hegseth, whether he is paid and if so at what federal pay level.

There are also some exceptions to the nepotism law for the president's office. In his first term, Trump appointed his son-in-law Jared Kushner to serve as his senior adviser. When he was president, Bill Clinton named first lady Hillary Clinton to serve on his health care task force.

In the Biden administration, Jake Sullivan served as national security adviser to the president while his brother, Tom Sullivan, was deputy chief of staff for policy at the State Department.

TACOMA, Wash. -- A U.S. judge in Washington state has blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump's order banning transgender people from serving in the military^[1], the second nationwide injunction against the policy in as many weeks.

The order Thursday from U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma came in a case brought by several long-serving transgender military members who say the ban is insulting and discriminatory, and that their firing would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations.

In his 65-page ruling, Settle -- an appointee of former President George W. Bush and a former captain in the U.S. Army^[2] Judge Advocate General Corps -- said the administration offered no explanation as to why transgender troops, who have been able to serve openly over the past four years with no evidence of problems, should suddenly be banned.

"The government's arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record," Settle wrote. "The government's unrelenting reliance on deference to military judgment is unjustified in the absence of any evidence supporting 'the military's' new judgment reflected in the Military Ban."

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., similarly issued an order blocking the policy^[3] last week but then put her own ruling temporarily on hold pending the government's appeal. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia late Thursday told the parties that it would consider putting the ruling into effect if "any action occurs that negatively impacts" transgender service members.

In a more limited ruling on Monday, a judge in New Jersey barred the Air Force^[4] from removing two transgender men, saying they showed their separation would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations that no monetary settlement could repair.

Trump signed an executive order Jan. 27 that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members "conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life" and is harmful to military readiness.

In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy^[5] that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.

"They can do the right number of pullups. They can do the right amount of pushups. They can shoot straight," Sasha Buchert, an attorney with the civil rights law firm Lambda Legal, said after arguments Monday in Tacoma. "Yet, they're being told they have to leave the military simply because of who they are."

Those challenging the policy and Trump's executive order in Tacoma include Gender Justice League, which counts transgender troops among its members, and several transgender members of the military. Among them is U.S. Navy^[6] Cmdr. Emily "Hawking" Shilling, a 42-year-old woman who has served for more than 19 years, including 60 missions as a combat aviator in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In his ruling, Settle highlighted her case.

"There is no claim and no evidence that she is now, or ever was, a detriment to her unit's cohesion, or to the military's lethality or readiness, or that she is mentally or physically unable to continue her service," he wrote. "There is no claim and no evidence that Shilling herself is dishonest or selfish, or that she lacks humility or integrity. Yet absent an injunction, she will be promptly discharged solely because she is transgender."

During arguments Monday, Justice Department lawyer Jason Lynch insisted that the president was entitled to deference in military affairs and suggested the service ban was not as broad as the plaintiffs had suggested.

The judge peppered Lynch with questions, noting that the government had offered no evidence that allowing transgender troops to serve openly had caused any problems for military readiness.

Thousands of transgender people serve in the military, but they represent less than 1% of the total number of active-duty service members.

In 2016, a Defense Department policy permitted transgender people to serve openly in the military. During Trump's first term in the White House, the Republican issued a directive to ban transgender service members, with an exception for some of those who had already started transitioning under more lenient rules that were in effect during the Obama administration. The Supreme Court allowed that ban to take effect^[7]. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, scrapped it^[8] when he took office.

The rules imposed by Hegseth include no such exceptions.

MANILA, Philippines — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

Hegseth, who was visiting the Philippines, blamed the previous Biden administration for insufficient actions that emboldened aggressors like China over the years. He said the U.S. military was being rebuilt under President Donald Trump and was reestablishing its “warrior ethos” in the region, but did not elaborate.

“What we’re dealing with right now is many years of deferred maintenance, of weakness, that we need to reestablish strength and deterrence in multiple places around the globe,” Hegseth told a news conference with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, after meeting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila.

“There’s a long line of countries in the past who have attempted to test U.S. resolve,” Hegseth added. “We are resolved at this time … to work with our partners.”

Earlier, he told Marcos that deterrence was particularly needed in the Indo-Pacific region “considering the threats from the communist Chinese.”

“Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to deter conflict, to ensure that there is free navigation whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea," he told Marcos.

The U.S. was not gearing up for war, Hegseth said — while underscoring that peace would be won “through strength.”

The Philippines was the first stop in Hegseth's first trip to Asia. He is due to travel next to Japan, another staunch U.S. ally.

Ahead of his visit to the region, China called the United States a “predator” and an unreliable ally.

Hegseth said the Trump administration would commit more security assistance to the Philippines in addition to a $500 million fund to help the Philippine military modernize. The U.S. funding was first announced by the previous Biden administration.

US-Philippine Joint War Games 

The U.S. would also deploy an anti-ship missile system called the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System as well as unmanned sea vessels for largescale military exercises involving thousands of American and Filipino forces next month in the Philippines, Hegseth said.

That would enable the allied forces to train together to defend Philippine sovereignty, he said.

Additionally, the allied forces agreed to stage special operations forces training in Batanes province, a cluster of islands in the northernmost tip of the Philippine archipelago across a sea border from Taiwan, he said.

Taiwan is the self-ruled island that China regards as a province and has threatened to annex, by force if necessary.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea^[1], a major security and global trade route. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to the resource-rich and busy waters, but confrontations have spiked between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces in the last two years.

Hegseth said that U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Paparo, who heads the largest number of American combat forces outside the U.S. mainland, has “real war plans” and was ready to work with allied forces to create “strategic dilemmas for the communist Chinese that (will) help them reconsider whether or not violence or action is something they want to undertake."

Aside from the U.S., Teodoro said the Philippines has been building security alliances with other friendly countries for added deterrence.

“God forbid. We must be prepared … to deter any possibility in the future for our mutual defense and the defense of freedom and international law,” Teodoro said.

Trump’s “America First” foreign policy thrust has triggered concerns in Asia about the scale and depth of U.S. commitment to the region.

Under the previous Biden administration, the U.S. has repeatedly warned that it is obligated to help defend^[2] the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. Hegseth renewed that Biden commitment in his talks with Marcos and Teodoro.

China Warns of ‘Opening the Door to a Predator’ 

Ahead of Hegseth’s visit, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said China opposes “interference from outside countries” in the South China Sea.

"U.S.-Philippines military cooperation must not harm the security interests of other countries or undermine regional peace and stability,” he said Thursday in a news conference.

He added without elaborating that the United States has “an astonishing record of breaking its promises and abandoning its allies” throughout its history.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun separately warned the Philippines earlier this week “that nothing good could come out of opening the door to a predator. Those who willingly serve as chess pieces will be deserted in the end."

Hegseth, who has come under strong criticism for texting attack plans t^[3] o a Signal group that included top-level U.S. security officials and the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, projected composure and camaraderie while in Manila.

Clad in a sweatshirt and shorts, he joined American and Filipino forces in physical training, including push-ups, in a gym after arriving Thursday in Manila.

The U.S. defense chief shook hands and posed smiling with military personnel while they flashed the thumbs-up in pictures posted by the U.S. Embassy on X.

Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan Manila, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Christopher Bodeen in Taipei contributed to this report.