Pete Hegseth heads to Capitol Hill for fiery hearing on his record, plans to shake up Pentagon
Pete Hegseth is set to take the hot seat before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday in a hearing that is sure to break out into fireworks.
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Hegseth to shake up the Pentagon as his defense secretary, but the former Fox News host has been entangled in controversies that Democrats on the committee can be expected to question him about.
"Democrats certainly aren’t going to make this a walk in the park by any means," one Republican aide said.
"You'll see Democrats are pretty organized, they're thinking strategically to make sure everything is covered, and it's not a hearing that gets overly repetitive," one senior Democrat aide told Fox News Digital.
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"I don't think it's going to be particularly hostile, but I do think it will be very tough. It's going to focus a lot just on what we should expect of a nominee for this job and where he falls short," the aide went on. "There are questions about the things he's done, his character and his leadership."
Hegseth will be the first of Trump’s controversial change agent picks to face questioning from lawmakers.
Republicans can be expected to play defense, framing Hegseth as a decorated combat veteran who will hold the military accountable after years of failed audits and DEI initiatives.
With little hope of winning any Democrat votes, Hegseth will have to woo moderate Republicans who have previously expressed skepticism about his nomination.
Democrats are expected to hammer him over his past conduct and his qualifications to lead the government’s largest agency, which employs 3 million people.
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The 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran, who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is relatively young and inexperienced compared to defense secretaries past, having retired as a major. But Republicans say they don’t want someone who made it to the top brass, who’s become entrenched in the Pentagon establishment.
Hegseth is sure to face questions about a sexual assault accusation from 2017. He’s acknowledged paying his accuser an undisclosed sum to keep quiet at the time for fear of losing his job, but he denies any non-consensual sex took place.
Former employees at veterans’ groups Hegseth used to run have accused him of financial mismanagement and excessive drinking, according to a New Yorker report, and NBC News reported that his drinking "concerned" colleagues at Fox News.
Hegseth denies the accusations and said he would not drink "a drop of alcohol" if confirmed to lead the Defense Department.
The hearing, which kicks off at 9:30 a.m., will be packed with veterans who traveled to Washington, D.C., to support Hegseth in the face of attacks.
For weeks, Hegseth has been visiting Capitol Hill to meet with senators, including those who are skeptical of him. Last Wednesday, he met with the top Armed Services Committee Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and the meeting apparently didn’t go well.
"Today’s meeting did not relieve my concerns about Mr. Hegseth’s lack of qualifications and raised more questions than answers," Reed said in a statement.
Hegseth must first win a majority in a vote of the Armed Services Committee, made up of 14 Republicans and 13 Democrats, meaning one Republican defection could tank the vote.
He then needs to win a simple majority on the Senate floor, meaning he can afford to lose no more than three Republican votes.
"I think he kind of knows that all he needs is Republican votes to get from now into the job," said a Democrat aide. "His job is to just keep his head down and not say something that would create an opening for these [Republicans], many of whom I really don't think want to vote for him, to have a reason to revisit that. So I expect that he's going to try to say very little and say it very calmly and politely."
In committee, all eyes will be on Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a veteran herself who at first seemed hesitant about Hegseth. After two meetings with the nominee, Ernst said she would support him through the confirmation process and looked forward to a fair hearing. She didn’t commit to voting for him.
Senators will also take a fine-toothed comb to Hegseth’s lengthy record of public comments on TV and across the five books he’s written.
One such belief is that women should not fight in combat roles.
"Dads push us to take risks. Moms put the training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military, especially not in combat units," he wrote in his most recent book, "The War on Warriors," published in 2024.
"Men are, gasp, biologically stronger, faster and bigger. Dare I say, physically superior," Hegseth added.
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On a Nov. 7 episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, which aired mere days before Hegseth was tapped to serve as Defense Secretary, the nominee said, "I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles."
Hegseth later told Fox News in December that women are some of the U.S.’ "greatest warriors."
"I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued, that I somehow don't support women in the military; some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women," he said.
Female service members "love our nation, want to defend that flag, and they do it every single day around the globe. I'm not presuming anything," he added.