WASHINGTON — Protection secretary hopeful Pete Hegseth confronted intense scrutiny from Democrats in a Tuesday affirmation listening to, fielding questions on allegations of sexual assault, infidelity, exhibiting as much as work drunk and disparaging girls’s participation within the army.
The highest Democrat on the Senate Armed Companies Committee, Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), even advised Hegseth initially of the listening to that he lacked “the character and composure and competence to hold the position of secretary of defense,” a scathing rebuke from some of the mild-mannered lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
However Hegseth, who beforehand labored as a weekend host for Fox Information, emerged from his four-hour grilling with nothing however reward from Republicans, and barring any last-minute surprises, he seems to be headed to a clean affirmation as early as subsequent week.
“I’m encouraged,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the chair of the Senate Armed Companies Committee, advised HuffPost of Hegseth’s efficiency. “I think he helped himself immensely today.”
Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) additionally dismissed issues in regards to the sexual assault allegations in opposition to him, saying he had “acquitted himself extremely well and made a strong argument for why he ought to be the secretary of defense.”
In nonetheless extra excellent news for Hegseth, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) appeared glad together with his solutions to her questions throughout the listening to about sexual assault within the armed forces and girls serving within the army.
Hegseth confirmed he supported sustaining girls serving in fight roles — contradicting previous statements questioning their health for such positions — and dedicated to appointing an official within the Pentagon if confirmed that might give attention to tackling sexual assault. Republicans predict Ernst, a army veteran and a survivor of sexual assault, to help his affirmation in committee subsequent week.
No Republican senators have come out in opposition to Hegseth’s nomination, and it will require not less than 4 of them to dam his affirmation on the Senate flooring. However that doesn’t imply he’s out of the woods to turn into President-elect Donald Trump’s chief of the Pentagon.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the previous GOP occasion chief and a protection hawk, stated nothing Tuesday when requested for his tackle Hegseth’s efficiency. Neither did Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a key GOP swing vote who has been vocal about sexual violence.
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), in the meantime, advised Politico that he’s nonetheless undecided.
Andrew Harnik through Getty Photographs
Hegseth weathered some robust inquiries from Democrats throughout his listening to.
5 feminine Democratic senators excoriated Hegseth over his previous feedback in opposition to girls serving in fight roles within the army. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Unwell.), an Iraq Warfare veteran who misplaced her legs whereas serving, was particularly essential of Hegseth, saying he was uniquely unqualified to guide the division.
“You will have to change how you see women to do this job well, and I don’t know if you are capable of that,” scolded Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in one other alternate that targeted on girls within the army.
In one other heated second, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) pressed Hegseth on whether or not he believes somebody ought to be disqualified from being protection secretary in the event that they’ve dedicated sexual assault. Kaine introduced up a 2017 incident in Monterey, California, involving a lady accusing Hegseth of stopping her from leaving a resort room and sexually assaulting her in a roundabout way that included him ejaculating onto her abdomen.
Hegseth has stated the encounter was consensual and that he was by no means charged with against the law. However particulars are murky as he entered right into a nondisclosure settlement with the girl making the allegations.
“Now, if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn’t it?” Kaine requested Hegseth, who wouldn’t reply the query straight and as an alternative addressed the allegations in opposition to him. “It’s a false claim then and a false claim now,” Hegseth stated.
They went backwards and forwards a number of occasions. It was awkward and pointed, and Hegseth declined to reply the query every time.
“I’m not a perfect person,” Hegseth stated at one level as Kaine requested about infidelity in previous relationships. “I have failed in things in my life and thankfully I’m redeemed by my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) advised reporters later that Republicans knew the sexual assault allegations would come up in Hegseth’s listening to, so Kaine’s questioning wasn’t a shock.
“I think Mr. Hegseth responded, and now it’s a matter of moving forward and finding out whether or not it made anybody else think twice about whether or not they would support Mr. Hegseth,” stated Rounds. “I don’t think that it changed any minds.”
“I have failed in things in my life and thankfully I’m redeemed by my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”
– Protection secretary hopeful Pete Hegseth
Now within the minority within the Senate, Democrats can’t do a lot to cease Hegseth from being confirmed past complaining loudly. Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) went on the Senate flooring to criticize Hegseth for avoiding questions throughout his listening to about all the allegations in opposition to him.
“It appears Mr. Hegseth’s strategy is to follow the five D’s of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge,” Schumer stated.
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“His history of excessive drinking is troubling for someone seeking to lead our military, and his reflexive defiance against the allegations regarding sexual assault undermines his credibility,” he stated, referencing numerous claims about previous alcohol use that Hegseth has pushed again on, with some alleging that he’d proven up drunk to work occasions whereas at Fox Information.
“Being secretary of defense demands discipline, character, restraint. Mr. Hegseth’s history shows he is deficient in all these qualities and thus far, his hearing has not changed that,” Schumer stated.
