The hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee is the start of a weeklong marathon.
Pete Hegseth, center, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be Defense secretary, appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearing with Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., left, and former Sen. Norm Coleman during a moment of silence for the city of Los Angeles, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
“Mr. Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job,” said Sen. Jack Reed, the top-ranking Democrat on the committee. “Indeed, the totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any servicemember from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.”
"All they were out to do, Mr. Chairman, was to destroy me. And why do they want to destroy me? Because I'm a change agent and a threat to them, because Donald Trump was willing to choose me, to empower me, to bring the Defense Department back to what it really should be, which is war fighting," Hegseth said.
Hegseth said he was brought in to be a "change agent" after years of what he said was a mismanagement of priorities and troops that led to the degradation of the strength of the American military.
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