President-elect Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is heading into a potentially explosive confirmation hearing Tuesday as senators question whether the former combat veteran and TV news show host is fit to lead the U.S. military.
Trump's choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is heading into a potentially explosive confirmation hearing.
He is among the most endangered of Trump's Cabinet choices, but GOP allies are determined to turn Hegseth into a cause célèbre for Trump's governing approach amid the nation's culture wars. Outside groups, including those aligned with the Heritage Foundation, are running costly campaigns to prop up Hegseth's bid.
And Hegseth will have to answer for his comments that women should "straight up" not be in combat roles in the military, a view he has softened following recent meetings with senators. Two former female combat veterans, Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democrat Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, are among those grilling him from the dais.
In many ways, the Hegseth hearing is expected to follow the template set during Trump's first term, when one of his choices for Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh, came under intense scrutiny over allegations of sexual assault from his teens but recouped to win confirmation to the high court. In 2017, a woman told police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her, according to a detailed investigative report recently made public. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing and told police at the time that the encounter at a Republican women's event in California was consensual. He later paid the woman a confidential settlement to head off a potential lawsuit.
In addition to being a key national security adviser to the president, the defense secretary oversees a massive organization, with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of roughly $850 billion.
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