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Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of two Republicans who voted against advancing Pete Hegseth’s nomination to serve as defense secretary, said Thursday that he “lacks the management experience and the background” needed to do the job.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to vote against the nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense,” Collins, the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced in a statement.
Collins said she appreciates Hegseth’s record as a retired Army major and combat veteran, but added that she is “concerned that he doesn’t have the experience and perspective to be successful in the job.”
Collins argued that the nation’s military “is under tremendous pressure right now” due to active conflicts in the Middle East and Europe and growing threats in the Pacific.
He noted that the next defense secretary will have to manage 3 million employees and an annual budget of $850 billion.
Hegseth, he said, has only “limited management experience running two small nonprofits that had decidedly mixed results,” referring to his leadership of Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.
Collins said she is also “troubled” by Hegseth’s “multiple” statements about women serving in the military.
“He and I had a frank conversation in December about his past statements and apparently evolving views. I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed,” she said, noting that the women make up 18 percent of the country’s active duty military.
He said Hegseth appeared to “lack sufficient appreciation of some of the policies the military has to follow” related to rules of engagement” and “prohibitions against torture.”
“Therefore, I will vote against the nomination,” he said.
