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Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, on Tuesday emerged largely unscathed from a sometimes blistering confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Democratic lawmakers on the panel pointed to Hegseth’s lack of experience leading an agency as large and complex as the Pentagon, claims related to his treatment of women and excessive alcohol consumption and his past comments about the role of women in the army.
Several Democrats also expressed concern that an FBI background check on Hegseth, an Army veteran, left out crucial details about the major allegations against him. The report was seen by the two main members of the panel on Friday.
Committee Republicans, however, rallied around the former Fox News host. Speaker Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called the hearing a “tour de force” and a “triumph” on Hegseth’s part.
“Mr. Hegseth had three hearings: the committee, the United States Senate, and the general American public. I think it was a great display of his knowledge and his ability to communicate his leadership skills and I feel great about this audience today,” Wicker told reporters. “I don’t think it could have gone any better.”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who had been considered a strong vote for Hegseth, announced on the Simon Conway radio show after the hearing that she would vote for the nominee.
Here are five takeaways from the hearing.
Hegseth survives
Republicans on the panel expressed confidence after the hearing that Hegseth will eventually be confirmed.
They believe he performed well and heeded calls from Republicans to stay calm, despite attempts by Democrats on the panel to goad him into making a misstep that could hurt his chances before the full Senate.
“I think today helped immensely,” Wicker told reporters after the hearing.
Unlike other candidates, Hegseth has focused on maintaining the necessary number of Republicans rather than trying to win over Democrats who are considered a long shot.
He met several times with Ernst to try to calm his concerns. Instead, he met with only one Democrat on the panel.
Democrats complained Tuesday about the lack of communication, but the playbook may be paying off after he sticks to the script and doesn’t make any glaring mistakes that could cost him the four Republican votes that would sink him.
“This is what we hoped would happen. I certainly think Mr. Hegseth has done a good job in many cases,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-D.), a member of the committee, told reporters.
Rounds said it did not appear that pointed questions from Democrats such as Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.), who engaged in a heated exchange with Hegseth over past infidelity, ultimately hurt the candidate.
“We knew it was going to come up, simply because it was just part of the discussion early on, so we’re not surprised that it’s going to come out this way,” Rounds said. “Mr. Hegseth responded, and now it’s a matter of moving forward and finding out whether or not he made anyone else think twice about supporting Mr. Hegseth. I don’t think he’s changed his mind.”
Hegseth rejects ‘smear campaign’
The Hegseth who appeared before the podium Tuesday was similar to what lawmakers and reporters saw on Capitol Hill in early December when he went all-out to save a flat nomination: defiant and media savvy.
That much was evident when he dismissed the allegations in a pre-buttel of sorts about what Democrats were planning to ask.
“What was very clear to us from the beginning: There was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us. That was clear from the very beginning,” Hegseth said during his opening statement. “And what we knew was that it wasn’t about me. Most of it was against President Donald Trump.”
Democrats repeatedly attacked him for his past comments about women in combat, the 2017 sexual assault allegation, questions about his drinking and infidelity, all of which he tried to deflect by claiming they were facts by anonymous individuals who were determined to carry it. down
He also received support from Republicans throughout the day. Vice President-elect Vance complained that the Democrats were “bigots.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), a top Trump ally, was perhaps the biggest detractor on Democratic questions, including Kaine’s about Hegseth’s personal life and three marriages.
“The senator from Virginia is starting to raise the fact that, what if you show up drunk to your job? How many senators have shown up drunk to vote late at night? Have any of you asked them to resign from their jobs?” he asked in Mullin.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t see it, because I know you did,” Mullin said. “How many senators do you know who got divorced for cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to resign? No, because it’s for show. Make sure you put on a big show. . . . (It’s) hypocrisy because a man s ‘he made a mistake and you want to sit there and say he’s not qualified.”
Women in combat emerge as a key issue
No previous comment made by Hegseth seemed to generate as much backlash as his public assertion in November that women should not be allowed in combat roles.
Several senators from both sides of the aisle pressed him in remarks Tuesday, including Democrats Jeanne Shaheen (NH) and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), who questioned how he could lead an active-duty military that is 18 percent of women
Gillibrand noted that on Nov. 7, Hegseth said in a podcast interview that the U.S. military “shouldn’t have women in combat roles” because it “hasn’t made us more effective.” It hasn’t made us more lethal. It has complicated the fight.”
“Please explain these types of statements because they are brutal and mean-spirited and disrespectful to the men and women who are willing to die for this country,” he told Hegseth.
Hegseth responded that he respects women in uniform but opposes what he said were “eroded” fitness standards to meet “quotas” for women in infantry positions. Gillibrand and others rejected that claim, saying the standards remain the same across the board.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both legs when her plane was shot down in Iraq, sometimes raised her voice while speaking on the issue.
“You say you want to keep our forces strong by not lowering the standards (for women),” she said. “Then we’re not lowering our standards for you.”
But Republicans largely appeared to give Hegseth the benefit of the doubt, with Ernst, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard, beginning his questioning by presenting a letter from a Hegseth supporter, giving an opening to explain their comments.
“Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles, combat roles, given that the standards remain high,” Hegseth said when Ernst asked if he would support women continuing to serve in those jobs.
“We will have a review to make sure that standards have not been eroded in any of these cases,” Hegseth told Ernst, who noted that the pair discussed the issue intensively during their multiple “frank” private conversations. before Tuesday
Hegseth draws ire by dodging questions
Several Democrats were visibly upset during the hearing that Hegseth dodged their questions, painting him as unwilling to answer tough questions.
At various points in the hearing, the candidate declined to directly answer questions about Trump’s potential military actions related to Greenland and the Panama Canal, the use of active-duty military personnel in U.S. detention camps and the headquarters of a couple of veterans’ organizations.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) compared his responses to the movie “Dodgeball.”
“Unfortunately for Mr. Hegseth, his testimony thus far has failed to address the troubling questions affecting his nomination,” Schumer said on the floor during Hegseth’s hearing. “Mr Hegseth’s strategy seems to be to follow the five Ds of dodgeball: dodge, sink, dive, dive and dodge.”
“Mr. Hegseth did not explain, for example, why someone with his lack of qualifications should be trusted to lead our armed forces. Why should America entrust our military to a television personality who has never led a large organization? he continued “It’s a huge organization, the DOD. It hasn’t come close to having an administrative experience like this. We haven’t heard a good answer to that question.”
Hegseth declines to speculate on possible orders from Trump
At several points in the hearing, Democrats questioned Hegseth about whether he would follow a direct order from the incoming commander in chief, even if it was unconstitutional.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) asked Hegseth whether he would deploy the U.S. military to seize Greenland or the Panama Canal, referring to Trump’s expansionist rhetoric last week.
“Would you follow President Trump’s order to seize Greenland, a territory of our NATO ally Denmark, by force? Or would you take over the Panama Canal?” Hirono asked.
“Senator, I will emphasize that President Trump received 77 million votes to be the rightful commander,” Hegseth said, without saying whether he would invade the territories.
Later, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a former CIA analyst and new member of the committee, pressed Hegseth on whether he would use the active-duty military on the American people amid fears that Trump would deploy troops against the demonstrators, to round them up. undocumented immigrants, or to enforce borders.
“You’re going to be the one man standing in the gap in case President Trump issues an illegal order, right? I’m not saying he will, but if he does, you’re going to be the man he calls to implement that order.” , he said. “Do you agree that there are some orders that the Commander in Chief can give that would violate the US Constitution?”
Hegseth largely sidestepped the queries, citing hypothetical conversations he would not have before, but allowed that “there are laws and processes within our constitution that would be followed”.
Hegseth also said he has been in discussions with Trump about securing the southern border, but that “everything we’re going to do would be lawful and under the Constitution.”
