Hegseth Hearing
Hegseth Hearing
Hegseth Hearing
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Pete Hegseth emerged from a Senate committee hearing with the support of the Republican Party intact following weeks of scrutiny over his qualifications and allegations of misconduct.
Helene CooperKaroun DemirjianEric SchmittSharon LaFraniere and John Ismay
Reporting from Washington
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to be defense secretary, faced sharp questions from Democrats, but no pointed ones from Republicans, at a contentious confirmation hearing on Tuesday that focused on his past statements on issues including Pentagon diversity efforts.
Mr. Hegseth, 44, a former Fox News host and an Army veteran, repeatedly characterized himself as a “war fighter” who would bring a warrior ethos to the Defense Department as Democrats pressed him about allegations of misconduct and his qualifications to lead the Pentagon.
And he seized opportunities handed to him by Republicans to deliver a sanitized version of some of his most divisive past commentary, that women should not serve in combat.
“I respect every female service member that has put on the uniform, past and present,” Mr. Hegseth declared, under questioning by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, during his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “My critiques, senator, recently and in the past, and from personal experiences have been instances where I’ve seen standards lowered.”
Mr. Hegseth occasionally seemed rattled in his responses, particularly when discussing public drunkenness and a woman’s claim that he sexually assaulted her in California in 2017. He has said the encounter was consensual and he was not charged.
Just a month ago, Mr. Hegseth’s path to the Pentagon appeared rocky. But he emerged from Tuesday’s hearing with the support of the Republican Party intact following weeks of scrutiny over his fitness and qualifications to lead the Defense Department. A vote of the full Senate could come as soon as next week.
A signal of how things would go for him came early in questions from Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, a sexual assault survivor and the first female combat veteran to serve in the Senate.
Ms. Ernst’s questions had been highly anticipated, but she used her allotted time at the hearing mostly to help him. She asked Mr. Hegseth to appoint a senior official responsible for sexual assault prevention and response in the military — something he already promised her he would do, according to a statement she released last month.
“Yes I will,” he said.
Ms. Ernst also shared with the committee a letter from a constituent who inherited the leadership of a veterans organizations Mr. Hegseth ran, pushing back on allegations of mismanagement.
Ms. Ernst later announced on a radio show Tuesday that she would vote to confirm Mr. Hegseth.
With Ms. Ernst supporting Mr. Hegseth, the number of potential G.O.P. naysayers is down to a short list. To date, Senators John Curtis of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Todd Young of Indiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have yet to declare whether they will be for or against Mr. Hegseth. If all Democrats oppose him, he can afford to lose only three Republican votes.
The hearing, which lasted more than four hours, was unusual for what it did not cover almost as much as for what it did. For a position formerly called the secretary of war, the discussions often were more about culture war issues than about actual wars that the Pentagon might have to fight.
There was scant mention of China or Ukraine or the Middle East, though Mr. Hegseth said that “I’m a Christian and I will robustly support the state of Israel and its existential war in Gaza.”
Instead, many of the exchanges turned to what several Republican senators characterized as “wokeness and weakness” at the Defense Department, which under President Biden is run by two Black men. Mr. Hegseth pledged that “every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy, standards, lethality and commitment to lawful orders they will be given,” opening the door to a political purge of generals and admirals currently in uniform.
Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, accused Democrats of being hypocritical for saying Mr. Hegseth was unqualified to lead the Pentagon because he had been intoxicated and cheated on his wife. He asked whether they had ever demanded senators who showed up intoxicated to votes or cheated on their spouses to step down from their posts.
The last time a defense secretary candidate was plagued by allegations of drunkenness and womanizing was in 1989, when former Senator John Tower was up for position during the administration of President George H.W. Bush. Mr. Tower lost his bid for the job.
Mr. Hegseth may well win his bid. But his performance on Tuesday, while polished and assertive, did little to address concerns about his personal background. Instead, he claimed to have been the victim of an “anonymous smear” campaign that focused on the sexual assault accusation and episodes of drinking to excess.
He repeatedly denied misconduct allegations and refused to say whether sexual assault, excessive drinking or marital infidelity should disqualify someone from serving as defense secretary.
He appeared rattled by questioning from Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia. Mr. Kaine pointed out that Mr. Hegseth was married to his second wife when he fathered a child with a woman who became his third wife, and that a 2017 encounter with a woman who accused him of sexual assault was at least cheating, if not a crime.
Mr. Hegseth responded that he had been “falsely charged — completely, fully investigated, and completely cleared.”
“Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child two months before?” Mr. Kaine asked. “How is that completely cleared?”
Mr. Hegseth added that he had been redeemed by his “Lord and savior” for his failings in life.
An exchange with Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, was typical of how Mr. Hegseth sought to refute allegations of impropriety.
“So while leading Concerned Veterans of America, there were very specific cases cited by individuals about your conduct,” Mr. Kelly said. “I’m going to go through a few of them. And I just want you to tell me if these are true or false. Very simple.”
Mr. Kelly then said: “On Memorial Day 2014 at a C.V.A. event in Virginia, you needed to be carried out of the event for being intoxicated,” Mr. Kelly said.
“Anonymous smears,” Mr. Hegseth responded.
“Summer of 2014 in Cleveland, drunk in public with the C.V.A. team,” Mr. Kelly said.
“Anonymous smears,” Mr. Hegseth said.
And so it went. Senator Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii, tried to get Mr. Hegseth to vow that he would resign if he broke his promise never to drink alcohol if confirmed as the defense secretary. Mr. Hegseth said only that he had made the commitment not to drink.
There was one curious moment, early on in the hearing, when Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the armed services panel, suddenly asked Mr. Hegseth to define “jagoff.”
Mr. Reed’s question was prompted by a comment that Mr. Hegseth made to his military platoon, as he wrote in his 2024 book, “The War on Warriors.” He made the comment during his Iraq deployment in 2005 after hearing a presentation by a JAG officer, or a member of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, who defend Army soldiers in legal matters.
When asked for a definition, Mr. Hegseth, at first, declined to define the slang term. “I don’t need to, sir,” he said with a slight smile. “The men and women watching understand.”
When pressed, Mr. Hegseth ultimately said “it would be a JAG officer who puts his or her own priorities in front of the war fighters, their promotions, their medals, in front of having the backs of those making the tough calls on the front lines.”
One of his supporters, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, served as a JAG officer, while in the Air National Guard. But while Mr. Graham initially raised concerns about the allegations against Mr. Hegseth, he has since backed his candidacy, arguing that anonymous allegations should be discounted.
“With today’s performance, I believe Pete Hegseth’s path to confirmation has been assured,” Mr. Graham said in a statement.
Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent. She was previously an editor, diplomatic correspondent and White House correspondent. More about Helene Cooper
Karoun Demirjian covers Congress with a focus on defense, foreign policy, intelligence, immigration, and trade and technology. More about Karoun Demirjian
Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has reported on for more than three decades. More about Eric Schmitt
Sharon LaFraniere is an investigative reporter currently focusing on Republican candidates in the 2024 presidential election. More about Sharon LaFraniere
John Ismay is a reporter covering the Pentagon for The Times. He served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy. More about John Ismay
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