{"id":9549,"date":"2025-01-15T14:55:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T09:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/?p=9549"},"modified":"2025-01-15T14:55:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T09:55:38","slug":"trump-nominee-pete-hegseth-weathers-democrats-grilling-to-emerge-largely-unscathed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/politics\/trump-nominee-pete-hegseth-weathers-democrats-grilling-to-emerge-largely-unscathed\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump nominee Pete Hegseth weathers Democrats\u2019 grilling to emerge largely unscathed"},"content":{"rendered":"

President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth<\/a>, endured fierce Democratic grilling over everything from his inexperience, alleged drinking and his past opposition to women in combat to emerge largely unscathed among Republicans at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth, a former Fox News<\/em> host and decorated veteran, is one of the most controversial figures ever nominated<\/a> to be Secretary of Defence and any vote to confirm him is expected to be very close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he weathered the four-hour hearing without making any major gaffe that might have alienated Republicans and even won critical backing from Republican Senator Joni Ernst, who holds sway in her party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several other committee Republicans, to laughter from a friendly audience packed with supporters wearing Hegseth hats, praised the 44-year-old, who has slammed diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military, and, in his latest book, questioned whether the top US general has the job because he\u2019s Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if he would fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Q. Brown, if he takes over the military, a possibility first reported by Reuters<\/em>, Hegseth declined to rule it out, saying he would be carrying out a broad review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy, standards, lethality and commitment to lawful orders they will be given,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth had strongly opposed women in combat roles but walked back that stance during the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job,\u201d said Senator Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of episodes have sparked concern, including a 2017 sexual assault allegation<\/a> against Hegseth that did not result in charges and which he denies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has also been accused of excessive drinking and financial mismanagement at veterans\u2019 organisations. Hegseth has vowed to abstain from alcohol if confirmed and said he made financial errors but denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand slammed Hegseth\u2019s past remarks about women, saying he would have to fundamentally change how he sees women who constitute 18 per cent of the US military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have hundreds \u2014 hundreds \u2014 of women who serve in the infantry, lethal members of our military \u2026 But you degrade them,\u201d Gillibrand said in a heated exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease explain these types of statements because they\u2019re brutal, and they\u2019re mean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite strong support from Trump\u2019s Republicans, Hegseth\u2019s confirmation will likely be by a narrow margin, compared with the 93-2 vote for President Joe Biden\u2019s defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, and 98-1 for Jim Mattis, Trump\u2019s first nominee for the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the hearing, Ernst, who pundits speculated could vote against Hegseth and perhaps convince others to do the same, said she supported Hegseth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur next commander in chief selected Pete Hegseth to serve in this role, and after our conversations, hearing from Iowans, and doing my job as a United States Senator, I will support President Trump\u2019s pick for Secretary of Defence,\u201d Ernst said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Hegseth walked into the packed hearing room, he was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation, with chants of \u201cUSA, USA, USA\u201d and a shout of \u201cGet \u2019em, Petey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican who leads the committee, endorsed Hegseth, calling him \u201cunconventional,\u201d and adding, \u201cRegarding his personal conduct, Mr Hegseth has admitted to falling short, as we all do from time to time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican senators, including Markwayne Mullin and Tim Sheehy, strongly backed Hegseth. Mullin dismissed concerns about him, particularly his personal life, as political theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all for show,\u201d Mullin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Accountability is coming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth\u2019s opening remarks, praising Trump, were repeatedly interrupted by protesters. He vowed to restore a \u201cwarrior culture\u201d to the US military and said accountability was coming for those who fall short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone from the top, from the most senior general to the most lowly private, (we) will ensure that they\u2019re treated fairly,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about remarks opposing women in combat, Hegseth cited the need to eliminate quotas for frontline roles. Gillibrand fired back that no such quotas exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the hearing he told Ernst, herself a veteran, that he would support women in combat \u201cgiven the standards remain high, and we will have a review to ensure the standards have not been eroded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost both legs during combat in Iraq, chided Hegseth over gaps in his knowledge of foreign policy and lack of management experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou say you care about keeping our armed forces strong \u2026 then let\u2019s not lower the standards for you. You sir, are a no-go at this station,\u201d Duckworth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2021 incident first reported by Reuters<\/a><\/em>, Hegseth was branded an \u201cinsider threat\u201d by a fellow member of the Army National Guard over his tattoos. Hegseth noted the incident during the hearing, which led him to be pulled from Guard duty in Washington during Biden\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent weeks, Trump\u2019s party has coalesced around his pick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the slim Republican Senate majority means that Hegseth can lose support from no more than three senators to be confirmed, if Democrats and independents unite against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cabinet nominees almost never lose Senate votes. The last nominee who was defeated was former Senator John Tower, a nominee to be Secretary of Defence, in 1989. Tower was investigated over claims of drunkenness and inappropriate behavior with women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If confirmed, Hegseth could make good on Trump\u2019s promises to rid the military of generals he accuses of pursuing progressive diversity policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next secretary of defence faces huge challenges, including active conflicts in Ukraine<\/a> and Gaza<\/a> and the expansion of China\u2019s military, which received only glancing attention during a hearing focused far more on culture war issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee is expected to vote on Hegseth\u2019s nomination as soon as Monday, the day of Trump\u2019s inauguration, paving the way for his consideration by the full Senate.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, endured fierce Democratic grilling over everything from his inexperience, alleged drinking and his past opposition to women in combat to emerge largely unscathed among Republicans at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. Hegseth, a former Fox News host and decorated veteran, is one of the most controversial figures ever nominated to […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":9550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,342],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}