Trump Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth faces grilling in Senate hearing

Senators kicked off a confirmation hearing Tuesday for President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be the next defense secretary, Pete Hegseth where culture wars and personal issues are expected to dominate.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army combat veteran, is the first of Trump’s Cabinet picks to be publicly questioned by members of Congress as he appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Roughly a dozen other hearings are also scheduled this week as senators race to help Trump fill out his administration ahead of his inauguration next Monday.

Hegseth was introduced at the hearing by Rep Mike Waltz, R-Fla., Trump’s incoming national security adviser, and former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.

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According to his prepared opening remarks, Hegseth said his goals are to “restore the warrior ethos,” “rebuild our military” and “re-establish deterrence.”

“Unlike the current administration, politics should play no part in military matters. We are not Republicans or Democrats — we are American warriors,” Hegseth will say. “Our standards will be high, and they will be equal (not equitable, that is a very different word).” 

Tapped to lead the massive Defense Department, Hegseth has faced allegations of sexual assault, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement when he ran a veterans’ advocacy organization, all of which he has denied. He has faced criticism for past opposition to allowing women and openly gay people to serve in combat, positions he has walked back. 

Others have expressed concern that Hegseth does not have adequate management experience to oversee the sprawling military bureaucracy, which employs more than 2.1 million people and has a budget of more than $800 billion. 

Despite the criticism, Trump has stood by Hegseth, saying he has his full support. Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill and in outside conservative groups have been pressuring Republican senators to support the nomination. 

Opening the hearing, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the new chairman of the Armed Services Committee, acknowledged that Hegseth is an “unconventional” pick, but said “that may be what makes Mr. Hegseth an excellent choice,” comparing him to Trump.

Wicker said the Pentagon needs a “change agent” and combat-hardened warfighter who will “bring a swift end to corrosive distractions such as DEI,” referring to diversity, equity and inclusion measures.

But the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, said Hegseth’s past would “disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military,” let alone the Pentagon’s top job.

Reed, a longtime member and former chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said that has voted for every defense decretary nominee who has come before him, including during Trump’s first term.

But he slammed Hegseth for declining to meet with other Democrats on the committee, expressing concern that Hegseth would inject partisan politics into an institution that needs to remain beyond politics.

“Unfortunately, you lack the character, composure and competence to hold the position of secretary of defense,” Reed said.

With little to no support expected to come from Democrats, Hegseth cannot afford to lose many GOP votes in the narrowly divided Senate. A key vote on the Armed Services Committee will be that of Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a military veteran and sexual assault survivor who has been skeptical of Hegseth’s bid.

Outside of the panel, two Senate Republican women often seen as moderates, Susan Collins, of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, are also of particular focus.

Senators in both parties have expressed concern about a 2017 sexual assault allegation. A female staffer for a Republican women’s group said Hegseth took her phone and blocked her from leaving his hotel room before he forced himself on her after a political convention in Monterey, California. She reported the incident to police, and Hegseth settled for an undisclosed sum. 

Hegseth has said the relation was consensual, and his lawyer said he “strongly felt that he was the victim of blackmail and innocent collateral damage in a lie that the Complainant was holding onto to keep her marriage intact.” 

The FBI background check on Hegseth, which the chairman and the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee received late last week, does not include interviews with the woman or with Hegseth’s ex-wives, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the contents of the report.

Hegseth’s mother also accused him of abusing women in text messages during his second divorce, though she later recanted the allegations, calling her son a “changed man,” and she now supports his nomination. 

Republican senators, including Collins, have said they have held productive meetings with Hegseth at which he surpassed their expectations.