Pete Hegseth Waves Away Misconduct Allegations in Fiery Senate Hearing

Beyond Matt Gaetz, there has been perhaps no Donald Trump nominee with as fraught a path to confirmation as Pete Hegseth. Soon after the president-elect announced him as his pick for defense secretary, the former Fox News host was beset by the publicization of a sexual assault accusation (which he’s denied), as well as reports about his alleged professional misconduct and drinking on the job. (The nominee has claimed that he’s “never had a drinking problem.”)

Hegseth’s troubling comments and writings on women and LGBTQ Americans in the military also recirculated, drawing concern not only from Democratic lawmakers, but some Republicans. The military vet-turned-TV-star would “have his work cut out for him,” said GOP Senator Joni Ernst, a veteran who has been outspoken about her experience as a survivor of sexual assault. His mother, in a 2018 email that surfaced late last year, chastised the nominee for his treatment of women (and then walked back the comments when they were made public).

As his confirmation process kicked off Tuesday, Hegseth repeatedly avoided engaging with the specific allegations against him, instead claiming he’s the victim of an “anonymous smear campaign” and his only fault was being human. “I’m not a perfect person,” Hegseth told senators, “but redemption is real, and God forged me in ways that I know I’m prepared for, and I’m honored by the people standing and sitting behind me and look forward to leading this Pentagon on behalf of the warfighters.” The more sordid accusations, he said, were merely part of that political hit job, similar to the one Trump has long claimed to face. “All they were out to do…was to destroy me,” Hegseth declared.

The hearing was, as expected, explosive: Protesters disrupted the proceedings at several points, and Democrats attempted to corner Hegseth on the allegations against him, some of which were first detailed by Vanity Fair’s own Gabriel Sherman.

“Mr. Hegseth, I do not believe you’re qualified for this job,” Jack Reed, ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, told the nominee. “You are no longer on Fox & Friends,” said Mazie Hirono, who grilled Hegseth on his alleged drinking habits, as well as Trump’s suggestions that he would use the military to police US citizens and annex Greenland. “If confirmed, your words, actions, and decisions will have real impacts on national security and our service members’ lives,” she added.

During a particularly testy line of questioning, Tim Kaine not only rebuked Hegseth’s claim that he’d been “cleared” on the sexual assault allegations he settled with a confidentiality agreement, but suggested that the marriage oaths he so openly broke spoke to his poor judgment. “Don’t make this into some anonymous press thing,” Kaine said, noting that senators have seen the names of former colleagues who’d leveled other misconduct allegations against him.

The military deserves “a leader who can lead them, not a leader who wants to lower the standards for himself,” Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran, said after questioning the nominee. “Have you overcome personal issues or are you the target of a smear campaign?” Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, pointedly asked. “You can’t be both.”

Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, vigorously denied any wrongdoing. Of course, he doesn’t just face disturbing accusations of misconduct; there’s also his political extremism and lack of real qualifications to preside over the Pentagon’s three-million-member workforce. “Why should America entrust our military to a television personality who has never led any large organization?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked Tuesday on the Senate floor.

But Democrats alone can’t stop Hegseth or any of Trump’s other nominees, as Tuesday’s hearings proved. Although they essentially forced Gaetz to withdraw from consideration, Republicans don’t seem particularly eager to break ranks on Hegseth.

Roger Wicker, chair of the Armed Services Committee, acknowledged that Hegseth was an “unconventional” pick, but said that makes him an “excellent choice to improve this unacceptable status quo.” Markwayne Mullin downplayed reports that Hegseth had shown up to work intoxicated: “How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night?” the Oklahoma senator asked, accusing Democrats of hypocrisy. “How many senators have gotten a divorce for cheating?”

And Ernst, whose initial wavering on Hegseth’s nomination made her the subject of a MAGA pressure campaign, seemed open Tuesday to confirming him. She thanked the Trump selection for having “frank” conversations with her in recent weeks and seemed satisfied with his responses on women in combat and on sexual assault in the military.

This is how things are likely to go as a second Trump term begins in Washington: A governing trifecta gives Republicans an opportunity to make their wildest MAGA fantasies a reality—and the incoming president’s fealty demands ensure that any members who dissent will do so at their own political risk.