President-elect Donald Trump’s alternative for protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, is heading right into a doubtlessly explosive affirmation listening to Tuesday as senators query whether or not the previous fight veteran and TV information present host is match to guide the U.S. army.Hegseth’s former expertise within the Military Nationwide Guard is extensively seen as an asset for the job, however he additionally brings a jarring document of previous statements and actions, together with allegations of sexual assault, extreme consuming and derisive views about girls in army fight roles, minorities and “woke” generals. He has vowed to not drink alcohol if he’s confirmed to guide the Pentagon.He’s among the many most endangered of Trump’s Cupboard selections, however GOP allies are decided to show Hegseth right into a trigger célèbre for Trump’s governing method amid the nation’s tradition wars. Exterior teams, together with these aligned with the Heritage Basis, are working pricey campaigns to prop up Hegseth’s bid.“He can be ripped, he can be demeaned. He can be talked about,” mentioned Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., at an occasion with former Navy SEALs, Military particular forces and Marines supporting the nominee. “However we’re going to get him throughout the end line.”The listening to on the Senate Armed Companies Committee is the beginning of a weeklong marathon as senators start scrutinizing Trump’s selections for greater than a dozen high administrative positions. The Republican-led Senate is speeding to have a few of Trump’s picks able to be confirmed as quickly as Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, regardless of potential opposition to some from each side of the aisle.“We’re going to grind them down,” Senate Majority Chief John Thune, R-S.D., mentioned on Fox Information.Hegseth faces maybe essentially the most troublesome path to affirmation. He can be compelled to confront allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied, and his personal feedback which can be removed from the army mainstream, although he has the help of some veterans’ teams that say his previous indiscretions usually are not as essential as his concentrate on bettering army readiness to battle.And Hegseth should reply for his feedback that ladies ought to “straight up” not be in fight roles within the army, a view he has softened following current conferences with senators. Two former feminine fight veterans, Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democrat Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, are amongst these grilling him from the dais.“He can attempt to stroll again his feedback on girls in fight all he desires, however we all know what he thinks, proper?” mentioned Duckworth, an Iraq Warfare veteran who misplaced her legs and partial use of her proper arm when the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting within the Military Nationwide Guard was shot down. “He’s essentially the most unqualified individual to ever be nominated for secretary of protection.”Many senators haven’t but met with Hegseth and most would not have entry to his FBI background test, as solely committee leaders are briefed on its findings. The background test on Hegseth didn’t seem to probe or produce new info past what’s already within the public realm about him, in line with an individual aware of the scenario and granted anonymity to debate it.In some ways, the Hegseth listening to is predicted to comply with the template set throughout Trump’s first time period, when one in all his selections for Supreme Courtroom justice, Brett Kavanaugh, got here underneath intense scrutiny over allegations of sexual assault from his teenagers however recouped to win affirmation to the excessive courtroom.Kavanaugh vigorously fought again throughout a volcanic 2018 listening to, portraying the sexual assault allegations towards him as a smear job by liberal lawmakers and out of doors teams against his judicial document, turning the tables in a approach that many senators credit score setting a brand new benchmark for partisanship.Requested about recommendation for Hegseth, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, referred to that earlier instance.“Return and watch movies of the Kavanaugh hearings — offer you a taste,” he mentioned.Hegseth was largely unknown on Capitol Hill when Trump tapped him for the highest Pentagon job.A co-host of Fox Information Channel’s “Fox & Buddies Weekend,” he had been a contributor with the community since 2014, and apparently caught the attention of the president-elect, who’s an avid shopper of tv and the information channel, specifically.Hegseth, 44, attended Princeton and served within the Military Nationwide Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and incomes two Bronze Stars. However he lacks senior army and nationwide safety expertise.In 2017, a girl advised police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her, in line with an in depth investigative report lately made public. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing and advised police on the time that the encounter at a Republican girls’s occasion in California was consensual. He later paid the lady a confidential settlement to move off a possible lawsuit.Hegseth additionally got here underneath scrutiny amid studies of extreme consuming when he labored at a veterans’ group. However as he started assembly privately with GOP senators forward of the listening to, he promised he wouldn’t drink if confirmed to the submit.If confirmed, Hegseth would take over a army juggling an array of crises on the worldwide stage and home challenges in army recruitment, retention and ongoing funding.Along with being a key nationwide safety adviser to the president, the protection secretary oversees an enormous group, with almost 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a finances of roughly $850 billion.He’s chargeable for tens of 1000’s of U.S. troops deployed abroad and at sea, together with in fight zones the place they face assaults, corresponding to in Syria and Iraq and within the waters round Yemen. The secretary makes all remaining suggestions to the president on what items are deployed, the place they go and the way lengthy they keep.His major job is to verify the U.S. army is prepared, educated and geared up to fulfill any name to responsibility. However the secretary additionally should be certain that American troops are protected and safe at house, with correct housing, healthcare, pay and help for applications coping with suicide, sexual assault and monetary scams.Pentagon chiefs additionally routinely journey the world over, assembly with worldwide leaders on an enormous vary of safety points together with U.S. army support, counterterrorism help, troop presence and world coalition constructing. They usually play a key function at NATO as a crucial companion to allies throughout the area.___Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump’s alternative for protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, is heading right into a doubtlessly explosive affirmation listening to Tuesday as senators query whether or not the previous fight veteran and TV information present host is match to guide the U.S. army.
Hegseth’s former expertise within the Military Nationwide Guard is extensively seen as an asset for the job, however he additionally brings a jarring document of previous statements and actions, together with allegations of sexual assault, extreme consuming and derisive views about girls in army fight roles, minorities and “woke” generals. He has vowed to not drink alcohol if he’s confirmed to guide the Pentagon.
He’s among the many most endangered of Trump’s Cupboard selections, however GOP allies are decided to show Hegseth right into a trigger célèbre for Trump’s governing method amid the nation’s tradition wars. Exterior teams, together with these aligned with the Heritage Basis, are working pricey campaigns to prop up Hegseth’s bid.
“He can be ripped, he can be demeaned. He can be talked about,” mentioned Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., at an occasion with former Navy SEALs, Military particular forces and Marines supporting the nominee. “However we’re going to get him throughout the end line.”
The listening to on the Senate Armed Companies Committee is the beginning of a weeklong marathon as senators start scrutinizing Trump’s selections for greater than a dozen high administrative positions. The Republican-led Senate is speeding to have a few of Trump’s picks able to be confirmed as quickly as Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, regardless of potential opposition to some from each side of the aisle.
“We’re going to grind them down,” Senate Majority Chief John Thune, R-S.D., mentioned on Fox Information.
Hegseth faces maybe essentially the most troublesome path to affirmation. He can be compelled to confront allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied, and his personal feedback which can be removed from the army mainstream, although he has the help of some veterans’ teams that say his previous indiscretions usually are not as essential as his concentrate on bettering army readiness to battle.
And Hegseth should reply for his feedback that ladies ought to “straight up” not be in fight roles within the army, a view he has softened following current conferences with senators. Two former feminine fight veterans, Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democrat Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, are amongst these grilling him from the dais.
“He can attempt to stroll again his feedback on girls in fight all he desires, however we all know what he thinks, proper?” mentioned Duckworth, an Iraq Warfare veteran who misplaced her legs and partial use of her proper arm when the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting within the Military Nationwide Guard was shot down. “He’s essentially the most unqualified individual to ever be nominated for secretary of protection.”
Many senators haven’t but met with Hegseth and most would not have entry to his FBI background test, as solely committee leaders are briefed on its findings. The background test on Hegseth didn’t seem to probe or produce new info past what’s already within the public realm about him, in line with an individual aware of the scenario and granted anonymity to debate it.
In some ways, the Hegseth listening to is predicted to comply with the template set throughout Trump’s first time period, when one in all his selections for Supreme Courtroom justice, Brett Kavanaugh, got here underneath intense scrutiny over allegations of sexual assault from his teenagers however recouped to win affirmation to the excessive courtroom.
Kavanaugh vigorously fought again throughout a volcanic 2018 listening to, portraying the sexual assault allegations towards him as a smear job by liberal lawmakers and out of doors teams against his judicial document, turning the tables in a approach that many senators credit score setting a brand new benchmark for partisanship.
Requested about recommendation for Hegseth, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, referred to that earlier instance.
“Return and watch movies of the Kavanaugh hearings — offer you a taste,” he mentioned.
Hegseth was largely unknown on Capitol Hill when Trump tapped him for the highest Pentagon job.
A co-host of Fox Information Channel’s “Fox & Buddies Weekend,” he had been a contributor with the community since 2014, and apparently caught the attention of the president-elect, who’s an avid shopper of tv and the information channel, specifically.
Hegseth, 44, attended Princeton and served within the Military Nationwide Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and incomes two Bronze Stars. However he lacks senior army and nationwide safety expertise.
In 2017, a girl advised police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her, in line with an in depth investigative report lately made public. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing and advised police on the time that the encounter at a Republican girls’s occasion in California was consensual. He later paid the lady a confidential settlement to move off a possible lawsuit.
Hegseth additionally got here underneath scrutiny amid studies of extreme consuming when he labored at a veterans’ group. However as he started assembly privately with GOP senators forward of the listening to, he promised he wouldn’t drink if confirmed to the submit.
If confirmed, Hegseth would take over a army juggling an array of crises on the worldwide stage and home challenges in army recruitment, retention and ongoing funding.
Along with being a key nationwide safety adviser to the president, the protection secretary oversees an enormous group, with almost 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a finances of roughly $850 billion.
He’s chargeable for tens of 1000’s of U.S. troops deployed abroad and at sea, together with in fight zones the place they face assaults, corresponding to in Syria and Iraq and within the waters round Yemen. The secretary makes all remaining suggestions to the president on what items are deployed, the place they go and the way lengthy they keep.
His major job is to verify the U.S. army is prepared, educated and geared up to fulfill any name to responsibility. However the secretary additionally should be certain that American troops are protected and safe at house, with correct housing, healthcare, pay and help for applications coping with suicide, sexual assault and monetary scams.
Pentagon chiefs additionally routinely journey the world over, assembly with worldwide leaders on an enormous vary of safety points together with U.S. army support, counterterrorism help, troop presence and world coalition constructing. They usually play a key function at NATO as a crucial companion to allies throughout the area.
___
Related Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
