House lawmakers sidelined an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Nov. 10, 2026, referring the resolution to committee. Hegseth defended his record at a Pentagon news conference that day, with members of his family sitting in the front row. The appearance brought another moment of public attention to a family with roots in Forest Lake, Minnesota, where his parents, Brian and Penelope Hegseth, raised him.
Brian built a career in Minnesota school athletics, first as a basketball coach and later as an activities director. Penelope, who goes by Penny, became a career and executive coach. The couple have three children, and Pete is the oldest.
Both parents have spoken publicly about their son. Brian has recalled the role of sports and church in Pete’s childhood. Penny appeared on television during his nomination for defense secretary after a private email she had written years earlier became public.
Who is Pete Hegseth’s father, Brian Hegseth?
Brian coached high school basketball in Minnesota, including at Forest Lake High School. Pete played point guard at Forest Lake Area High School and set school records for three-point shooting. He also played football and graduated as valedictorian in 1999. He went on to Princeton, where he continued playing basketball.
Brian eventually moved into school administration as activities director for Centennial Schools. The job brought him into contact with students and coaches across a range of activities. Before his retirement in 2019, the Minnesota Interscholastic Activities Administrators Association named him its Class AA athletic and activity administrator of the year.
After Pete’s confirmation in January 2025, Brian told a Minnesota outlet that his son had called him from a Starbucks to share the news that President Donald Trump was going to choose him to lead the Defense Department. Brian described his family as Minnesotans raising children and grandchildren, and said Pete had been driven to excel from a young age.
Who is Penelope Hegseth, and why did she speak about her son’s nomination?
Penny has worked as a career and executive coach. She has also taught with the Minnesota Excellence in Public Service Series, a leadership program for Republican and center-right women. In 2019, she and Brian joined Pete for a Mother’s Day segment on Fox News, where he was working at the time.
Her name drew wider attention in November 2024, when The New York Times reported on an email she sent Pete in 2018 during the breakdown of his second marriage. In that message, she sharply criticized his treatment of women. She later said she sent the email in anger and apologized to him soon afterward. In a December 2024 Fox News interview, she defended him and said he had changed. Pete was confirmed by the Senate the following month.
The email and her subsequent interview came years apart. The first was a private message during a difficult period in the family. The second was a public response after the email appeared in coverage of his nomination.
What was the Hegseth family’s life like in Minnesota?
Brian and Penny both grew up in Norwegian American families and attended Lutheran churches when they were young. After moving to Forest Lake in the 1980s, they began attending First Baptist Church in nearby White Bear Lake. Penny played piano for the children’s choir, the children attended Sunday school and the family prayed together at home.
Brian told the Minnesota Star Tribune that Pete looked forward to Christian basketball camps in the summer. The trips combined time on the court with the church activities that were part of his upbringing. Pete chose to be baptized during his middle school years. The family also spent time helping with church programs in the Lac La Croix First Nation in Canada.
Pete’s career eventually took him from Minnesota to Princeton, the Army National Guard and television before he joined the Cabinet. His parents spent much of their working lives in education and coaching. Their public recollections of his childhood describe a household where those interests were already part of daily life.