President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, a decorated combat veteran and former Fox News host, faced a contentious confirmation hearing on Tuesday in the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hegseth, along with former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) for Secretary of Veterans Affairs and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, were scheduled for the first day of confirmation hearings.
A former U.S. Army National Guard Major, Hegseth faced hecklers shouting about Gaza during his opening address and adversarial questions from left-wing senators, including Maine’s junior Sen. Angus King.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the committee’s minority chair, quickly emerged as a staunch opponent of Hegseth’s confirmation.
“Mr. Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job. We must acknowledge the concerning public reports against you,” said Sen. Reed in his opening statements to the nominee.
“A variety of sources, including your own writings, implicate you with disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other troubling issues,” he added.
Reed was particularly hostile to Hegseth’s opposition to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices in the military and his belief that women should not serve in combat roles.
The Democratic senator even suggested that the DEI programs have made the U.S. military a more effective fighting force.
“Our military is more diverse than it has ever been, but, more importantly, it is more lethal than it has ever been. This is not a coincidence” said Reed, though he didn’t provide any evidence for the claim.
Hegseth also faced criticism for elements of his personal life, including unsubstantiated sexual harassment and assault allegations, and accusations that he disregards the rule of law based on his support for pardons of some military personnel convicted of war crimes.
He defended his support for pardoning military personnel, saying that he is inclined to side with the boots-on-the-ground soldiers rather than the officers in Washington and arguing that the war-crime prosecutions were rife with misconduct. He clarified that he looked into these situations on a case-by-case basis, rather than blindly supporting anyone accused of a war crime.
Throughout the hearing, multiple senators, including Sen. King, questioned Hegseth about his belief that overly restrictive rules of engagement, often based on the Geneva Conventions, impair the military’s warfighting capabilities.
“They [the Taliban] knew our rules of engagement, and when they were more restrictive, they took advantage of them, and it put our men and women in a more dangerous and difficult place” said Hegseth, when questioned by King.
King tried to use those statements to suggest that Hegseth supports torturing prisoners of war.
“I just want to understand your position, your position is ‘torture is ok’ is that correct? Waterboarding, torture is is is no longer prohibited given the circumstances of whatever war we’re in, is that correct,” asked King.
“That is not what I said, I’ve never been party to any torture,” responded Hegseth,
Hegseth did, notably, stop short of outright saying that he opposes waterboarding and other torture methods.
Shortly before his time expired, King made sure to get in one final remark, asking Hegseth if his failure to mention Ukraine during his opening statement was code for a plan to abandon the country.
When Hegseth pointed out that U.S. policy regarding Ukraine will be determined by the President rather than the Defense Secretary, King continued to make a final remark on what he believes is the essential importance of Ukraine.
“Xi Jinping is watching what we do very carefully. If we abandon Ukraine, that would be the strongest signal possible to Xi Jinping that he can take Taiwan without significant resistance from this country,” said King.
Democrats on the committee were so adversarial that Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) felt the need to apologize to Hegseth on behalf of his colleagues.
“I am sorry for what has been happening to you, particularly the very idea that you should have to sit there and answer hypothetical, potential in somebody’s imagination crimes,” said Sen Cramer.
“I am embarrassed for this behavior,” he added.
President Trump’s Secretary of Defense pick quickly emerged as one of his most controversial selections, with left-wing media and politicians speaking out against his confirmation in the lead-up to his hearing.
Left-wing media outlets quickly smeared Hegseth, claiming that he mismanaged two non-profits, Veterans for Freedom (VFF) and Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), prior to his tenure on Fox News.
They also accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape, following a 2017 sexual encounter, which he maintains was consensual.
Despite no charges being filed, the media continued to cite the incident as evidence of his unfitness to serve as Secretary of Defense.
Opponents also cited anonymous sources claiming that Hegseth has an alcohol problem, citing as an example a time that he drank a warm beer on the set of Fox & Friends during St. Patrick’s Day.
Cabinet picks are typically referred to a specific committee and asked questions by senators as part of the hearing process.
The committee then votes to send the nominee to the Senate with either no recommendation, a favorable recommendation, or an unfavorable recommendation, leaving the full Senate to vote on the nominee.
Although not a member of the Armed Forces Committee, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is set to have a significant impact on Hegseth’s confirmation.
As one of the more moderate Republicans, Sen. Collins, along with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), has expressed skepticism over Hegseth’s qualifications for the job.
With a slim majority in the Senate, even a few centrist Republicans opposing Hegseth’s confirmation could ruin his chances of getting confirmed.
In an attempt to dispel their concerns, Hegseth met individually with Collins and the other skeptical Republicans, though at the time of the meetings, he was unsure whether he had succeeded in winning their votes.
Collins admitted that she discussed all of her concerns with his nomination, but did not indicate whether the meeting was enough to earn her vote.
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