WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth deflected tough questions and firmly defended President-elect Donald Trump during his hearing as the nominee for defense secretary Tuesday, taking a major step toward his confirmation.
During four hours in the witness chair, Hegseth defended himself on a range of controversial issues, including a sexual assault allegation and allegations of heavy drinking, which he repeatedly called “anonymous smears.”
He also pushed back on Democratic assaults on his lack of management experience and comments he has made and written against women serving in combat.
Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who hold a slim 14-13 majority on the panel, lauded Hegseth and asked him softball questions.
“How many pushups can you do,” asked Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Montana.
Hegseth responded that he “did five sets of 47 this morning.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee was tasked with determining whether Hegseth is up for the job of supervising an agency that is the largest employer in the nation, with about 3 million employees and an annual budget of nearly $900 billion.
During a tense and often contentious hearing before the panel, Hegseth said the numerous allegations of wrongdoing lodged against him are “a coordinated campaign of the media against him.”
After the hearing, the Forest Lake, Minnesota, native and former Fox News weekend host seemed poised to be voted favorably out of the committee.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a combat veteran and victim of sexual assault, who had been tepid in her support of Hegseth and could have blocked the nominee from being voted out of the committee, began her testimony by submitting a letter from Hegseth’s successor at Concerned Veterans of America, a group the nominee once headed, that lauded his leadership skills.
Hegseth has admitted paying an undisclosed sum to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017. In addition, employees of two veterans groups have accused him of financial mismanagement at Concerned Veterans of America and another veterans group, as well as excessive drinking and sexism.
Hegseth has denied these allegations. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, asked Hegseth repeatedly if he would agree to an expanded FBI background check that included audits of the veterans groups Hegseth once led and interviews of an ex-wife who had repeatedly called the agency. Democrats say Hegseth’s FBI background check was woefully inadequate.
Hegseth repeatedly dodged the question, saying he was not in charge of background checks.
Criticized for a lack of experience in management before other problems with his nomination came to light, Hegseth would take the reins of the Pentagon as the United States faces threats from Russia, China, Iran and adversaries around the world. If approved by the committee, the full Senate would vote on whether to confirm him.
GOP members of the Senate Armed Services Committee lauded Hegseth’s service in the National Guard, which included tours of combat, and the unconventional nature of his candidacy.
“The nominee is unconventional, just like that New York developer who rode down an elevator in 2016 to become president,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is the chairman of the panel.
Democrats, meanwhile, drilled into allegations of misconduct and Hegseth’s own controversial words and writings.
Speaking of Hegseth’s writings about women’s role in the military, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., called them “devastating.”
The Democratic senator read one comment. “We need moms, but not in the military, especially in combat roles,” she said.
Hegseth said he was only talking about “standards” that he said had been lowered to allow women in the military and would support placing women in combat who were able to meet tougher standards.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, used a biblical reference in comparing Hegseth’s new support for women in combat to Saul’s conversion on his way to Damascus.
“You seem to have been converted in the last couple of weeks or couple of months,” King said.
One of the most emotional exchanges came during the questioning of Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, a veteran who lost her legs in combat.
Duckworth attacked Hegseth’s lack of qualifications and his stumbles in answering her questions about the United States’ international security agreements and strategic alliances, including one with ASEAN, a cooperative agreement with South Asian countries.
“You, sir, are a no-go at this station,” Duckworth said, referring to a term used to describe a soldier who had failed at training.
Despite his skill at deflecting questions, a picture of the nominee’s stances on key policies emerged. He repeatedly said he would end what he called costly and destructive DEI policies in the military, use troops in what he called a “national security crisis”at the U.S.-Mexico border and seek new physical standards for troops that could hurt the recruitment of women.
The cavernous hearing room in the Dirksen Senate Office building was filled with the nominee’s supporters, many of them veterans and active duty personnel, who periodically cheered Hegseth.
He was introduced by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, who accompanied the nominee on his rounds of visits to GOP members of the committee. Hegseth only met with one Democrat on the committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, the highest-ranking member of his party on the panel.
Coleman called Hegseth “a son of Minnesota” who is “strongly focused, intelligent and decisive.”
“He is the real deal,” Coleman said.
But Reed, voicing the opinion of all Democrats on the panel, told the nominee that he did not “believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.” Reed also called the allegations against Hegseth “alarming.”
During his opening statement, which was interrupted by protesters three times, Hegseth said President-elect Donald Trump has tasked him with bringing “the warrior culture back” to the military.
“He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, warfighting, accountability and readiness,” Hegseth said.
He also made several references to God and Jesus and spoke of his redemption — a theme echoed by some of the Republican senators who are boosting his candidacy.
“I’m not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” he said.
Ana Radelat
Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.
