Defense nominee Hegseth sticks to script at his confirmation hearing

WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth weathered repeated efforts by Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee to assail his lack of qualifications to lead the Pentagon on Tuesday, buoyed by praise from Republicans of President-elect Donald Trump’s “out-of-the-box” pick to serve as secretary of Defense.

Partisan lines of support and hostility appeared to solidify as Hegseth faced nearly five hours of questions during his confirmation hearing. Democrats focused on his previous derogatory comments toward women in combat, his lack of experience leading a large organization, and the storm of allegations that have dogged him for months.

Republicans on the panel warmed to the combat veteran and former Fox News host. Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who until the hearing had been generally supportive of Hegseth but not ardent, threw his full-throated support behind Hegseth at the hearing’s outset.

“Admittedly, this nomination is unconventional. The nominee is unconventional, just like that New York developer who rode down the escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy for president. That may be what makes Mr. Hegseth an excellent choice,” Wicker said.

Ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., however, offered a blistering opening statement in which he said the totality of allegations against Hegseth, which include excessive drinking, sexual assault and financial mismanagement of organizations he led, paired with Hegseth’s own previous statements about the military, disqualified him from the job.

“I have voted in favor of all your predecessors, including those in the first Trump administration. Unfortunately, you lack the character and composure and competence to hold the position of secretary of Defense,” Reed said.

Hegseth, for his part, stuck to the script. He dismissed the various allegations against him as “anonymous smears,” dodged some of the more difficult questions, reaffirmed his commitment to quit drinking and admitted that he was “not a perfect person” but has found redemption.

He billed himself as a Washington outsider and a change agent who, unlike Pentagon chiefs before him, was not beholden to special interests or specific companies. He vowed to return a “warrior ethos” to the DOD, root out wokeness in the form of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and to reinstate, with pay and rank, those troops discharged for refusing an order to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

“(Trump) believes, and I agree, it’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm,” Hegseth said. “My only special interest is the warfighter, deterring wars, and winning wars by ensuring our warriors never enter a fair fight.”

Hegseth was introduced to a packed hearing room by allies Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Trump’s incoming national security adviser, and former Minnesota GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, who now works as a lobbyist.

Also in attendance were House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.

Democrats on the panel lambasted Hegseth for not meeting with them individually prior to the hearing, as he did with Republicans on the panel. Hegseth blamed scheduling issues but said he looked forward to working with everyone on the panel.

His views on women serving in combat roles were of particular concern to some members, who cited a Nov. 7 podcast interview with Shawn Ryan where Hegseth said: “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said Hegseth’s comments on women in the military were “brutal, mean and disrespectful to the men and women who die for this country.”

During the hearing, he walked back those comments, and instead said he was focused on “standards” — and ensuring that women in combat roles meet the same high standards as men — a pivot from his previous remarks.

“I appreciate your 11th-hour conversion,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., noted that Hegseth never qualified his disapproval for women in combat by mentioning standards until after he had been tapped by Trump to be secretary of Defense.

“I’ve heard of deathbed conversions, but this is the first time I’ve heard of a nomination conversion,” Warren said. “If you can convert so rapidly your long-held and aggressively pursued views in just 32 days, [then] 32 days after you get confirmed, maybe you’ll just reverse those views and go back to the old guy who said straight up, women do not belong in combat.”

Hegseth was also questioned about allegations that he financially mismanaged two veterans organizations that he helmed, driving them into debt until he was pushed out. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said such a record could not be tolerated at the Pentagon, which has a budget of over $850 billion and 3 million employees.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., agreed, and said Hegseth had not convinced him that he was fit to lead an organization as massive and complex as the Department of Defense.

“I don’t think there’s a board of directors in America that would hire you as a CEO with the kind of experience you have on your resume. You talk about standards — do you think that the way to raise the minimum standards of the people who serve is to lower the standards for the secretary of Defense? I have real problems with that,” Peters said.

Though after Hegseth said he had led organizations with about 100 employees, Wicker quipped that it seemed he’d supervised more people than the average U.S. senator.

After Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., tried unsuccessfully to get Hegseth to acknowledge that his alleged past behavior — such as being drunk at work functions and taking colleagues to a strip club and cheating on his wife — would be disqualifying for a Pentagon chief, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., rose to Hegseth’s defense.

Mullin panned his Democratic colleagues for what he described as their hypocrisy, and said their qualifications were no better.

“How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign? And don’t tell me you haven’t seen it, because I know you have,” Mullen said.

Following the hearing, a statement from the Trump transition team said Hegseth’s “intellect, passion, professionalism, and love of country were on full display.”