Takeaways from Pete Hegseth’s contentious confirmation hearing
By Jeremy Herb, CNN
(CNN) — Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, acknowledged Tuesday he is “not a perfect person” but was defiant in the face of multiple allegations surrounding his past conduct during a contentious confirmation hearing.
Hegseth dismissed the allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017 as false and part of a “coordinated smear campaign,” claiming that the attacks against him were an attempt to use him to also smear the president-elect.
Democrats pressed Hegseth on allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking. In one particularly contentious exchange, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia pressed Hegseth on his infidelity stemming from the 2017 incident in a Monterey, California, hotel room, which prompted a sexual assault investigation by local police that did not result in any charges.
Democratic senators also confronted Hegseth with his prior comments suggesting that women should not serve in combat roles, raising quotes from his book published last year.
Hegseth responded that women make “amazing contributions” to the military, arguing that his comments questioning women serving in combat were tied to the military’s standards and readiness.
Hegseth’s confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee is the first of a flurry of hearings for Trump’s Cabinet selections this week ahead of the president-elect’s inauguration on January 20. Hegseth’s hearing set a defiant tone for Trump’s nominees ahead of the multiple controversial hearings ahead for the Senate in the coming weeks.
Ultimately, Hegseth’s nomination to become the next secretary of defense will depend on how Republicans view his confirmation. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning he does not need any Democratic support to win confirmation so long as he doesn’t lose more than three Republicans.
In a sign of Hegseth’s strong position, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, one of the Republicans who had initially expressed concerns about his nomination, said after the hearing later Tuesday that she would support him.
Here are takeaways from Tuesday’s confirmation hearing:
Democrats press Hegseth on 2017 sexual assault allegation
Tuesday’s hearing was the first time for Democrats on the committee – Hegseth did not meet with any Democrats beyond ranking member Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island – to press Hegseth on the allegations of sexual assault, workplace drinking and financial mismanagement.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat, pressed Hegseth on the 2017 sexual assault investigation, asking if he’d ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement related to physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature.
“I was falsely accused in October of 2017, it was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared,” Hegseth said.
“I don’t think ‘completely cleared’ is accurate,” Hirono responded, noting his lawyer has said he entered into a non-disclosure agreement with his accuser as part of a settlement.
Kaine grilled Hegseth further, questioning the nominee’s judgement and pushing Hegseth to acknowledge his infidelity from the 2017 Monterey incident that he’s described as a consensual sexual encounter.
“Senator, I was falsely charged, fully investigated and completely cleared,” Hegseth responded.
“So, you think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime. That’s your definition of cleared?” Kaine responded. “You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I am shocked that you would say you’re completely cleared.”
Hegseth also denied allegations of workplace drinking, while Democrats pressed him about not drinking if he was in charge of the Pentagon.
Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona ticked through a number of specific allegations raised about drinking, asking Hegseth to say whether they were true or false.
“Anonymous smears,” Hegseth responded repeatedly.
Hirono asked Hegeth: “You recently promised some of my Republican colleagues that you stopped drinking and won’t drink if confirmed. Correct?”
“Absolutely,” Hegseth responded.
“Will you resign as secretary of defense if you drink on the job, which is a 24/7 position?” she said.
“I’ve made this commitment on behalf of the men and women I am serving,” Hegseth responded.
Democrats used the allegations against Hegseth as part of a broader critique that he was not qualified to be defense secretary.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Army combat veteran who lost her legs serving in Iraq, repeatedly pushed Hegseth on his qualifications to run the Pentagon, quizzing him about the international security agreements and negotiations he will be expected to handle in the job.
“What is the highest level of negotiations that you engaged in, that you’ve led in, because the secretary of defense does lead international security negotiations. There are three main ones that the secretary of defense leads and signs — can you name at least one of them?” Duckworth asked.
Hegseth responded that he has not been involved in international security negotiations given he has not been in government. “NATO might be one that you’re referring to,” he said in response to her question.
Hegseth dismisses allegations as ‘coordinated smear campaign’
Hegseth, an Army combat veteran and former host of “Fox and Friends Weekend,” told senators that Trump chose him to be defense secretary specifically because he’s not like the defense secretaries of the past several decades.
“He believes, and I humbly agree, that it’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. A change agent,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth’s nomination has been imperiled by multiple allegations that have emerged since he was tapped for the Pentagon role in November, including sexual assault, excessive drinking in the workplace and mismanagement of his nonprofits.
He initially appeared to be in jeopardy as Republican senators, including Ernst, expressed concern. But Trump has stood by his pick, and skeptical GOP senators have largely backed down amid a concerted campaign among Trump-allied activists to target Republicans who oppose his nominees.
Hegseth dismissed the allegations during Tuesday’s hearing as false and anonymous attacks that were orchestrated by a “coordinated smear campaign.”
“What became very evident to us from the beginning, there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us,” Hegseth said, adding that the allegations were an attempt to through him to smear Trump, “who’s had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time.”
Democrats press Hegseth over comments on women in combat
Several Senate Democrats pushed Hegseth to answer for his past public comments and writings in his 2023 book about women in the military, questioning whether he could give female service members a fair shot if he’s in charge of the Pentagon.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, asked Hegseth why women in the military should “believe that they would have a fair shot and an equal opportunity to rise through the ranks?”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand accused Hegseth of denigrating active-duty service members, pointing to his past comments saying, “We need moms, but not in the military, especially in combat units.”
“If you are saying that women shouldn’t be serving in the military — and I’m going to read you your quotes, because the quotes themselves are terrible — you will have to change how you see women to do this job well,” Gillibrand said. “And I don’t know if you are capable of that.”
Hegseth responded that he has “never disparaged” women who serve in the military, and said he had “personal experience” of instances of standards being lowered, pointing to examples he was told by others while writing his book “The War on Warriors.”
He did not, however, provide a specific example of standards being lowered to bring women into units when pushed by Gillibrand to do so.
“When I’m talking about that issue, it’s not about the capabilities of men and women; it’s about standards,” Hegseth said Tuesday.
Hegseth, after asking her to repeat the question, said he has not been involved in international security negotiations given he has not been in government. In response to her question to name security negotiations, Hegseth said, “NATO might be one that you’re referring to.”
No fireworks from Ernst during questioning
In perhaps the best sign for Hegseth’s confirmation chances, Ernst’s questioning offered no fireworks, and her line of questioning suggested she and Hegseth have privately hashed out many of her initial concerns.
Ernst confirmed as much when she announced on an Iowa radio show Tuesday evening she was backing Hegseth.
“He was adequately able to answer all of my questions. He pointed out the woke issues at the Pentagon. And I think we’re at a point where now we can start moving forward, people know where he stands on these issues. So I felt it was a good hearing,” she told Iowa radio host Simon Conway, adding, “I’m breaking news, Simon. I figured you would ask this, so yes, I will be supporting President Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.”
In November, Ernst first met with Hegseth as the allegations against him swirled. She declined to immediately back him, saying she still had questions, prompting Trump allies to launch a significant campaign to get her and any other wayward GOP senators on board with Hegseth’s nomination.
The Iowa Republican had follow-up conversations with Hegseth, and she signaled she was willing to support his confirmation process moving forward.
When it was her turn to question Hegseth, Ernst acknowledged the “many frank conversations” that she had with Hegseth.
“You know that I don’t keep any anything hidden. Pull no punches,” Ernst said.
During her questioning, Ernst, an Army veteran, noted that she was not allowed to serve in a combat role when she was in the military. She said she wanted every man and woman to have the opportunity to serve in combat so long as they met the high standards, teeing up Hegseth on whether he agreed with her.
“My answer is yes, exactly the way you caveated it,” Hegseth said. “Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles, given the standards will remain high.”
Hegseth also pressed on policy issues including war crimes and torture
Hegseth defended his support for service members accused and convicted of war crimes on Tuesday, saying there was “prosecutorial misconduct” in their cases and that he was “proud” to ensure they were looked after.
“I’m not talking about disavowing the laws of war, or the Geneva Conventions or the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Hegseth said in response to questioning from Reed. “Sir, I’m talking about restrictive rules of engagement that these men and women behind me understand, they’ve lived with on the battlefield, which has made it more difficult to defeat our enemies.”
CNN has reported that Hegseth privately encouraged Trump during his first presidency to pardon some servicemen who were convicted of war crimes. Trump later pardoned two service members – Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn and 1st Lt. Clint Lorance – and restored the rank of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who had been demoted.
Hegseth has since repeated his support for Gallagher, Golsteyn and Lorance.
Before Trump’s pardons, Golsteyn had been charged with the 2010 murder of an Afghan civilian, to which he pleaded not guilty, and Lorance was found guilty of second-degree murder for ordering his troops to fire on three men on a motorcycle in Afghanistan. Gallagher had been acquitted of nearly all charges relating to the death of a 12-year-old ISIS fighter in Iraq but was found of posing for a photo with the fighter.
Hegseth was also pressed about his views on the Geneva Conventions and torture, including his position on waterboarding.
Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, asked Hegseth whether he would support the use of waterboarding, pointing to a past quote in which he said that people like Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, would be willing to use waterboarding to keep the US safe.
“Are you OK with waterboarding?” King asked.
“The law of the land is that waterboarding is not legal,” Hegseth responded, noting his service as an infantry platoon leader at Guantanamo Bay.
Republicans dismiss allegations as ‘anonymous’ while Dems press for more
Republicans largely rallied to Hegseth’s defense while Democrats pressed Hegseth over the allegations surrounding his nomination.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, claimed in his opening statement that the allegations against Hegseth were vastly coming from anonymous sources.
“Regarding his personal conduct, Mr. Hegseth has admitted to falling short, as we all do from time to time,” Wicker said. “It is noteworthy that the vast majority of accusations leveled at Mr. Hegseth have come from anonymous sources. Contrast these anonymous accusations with the many public letters of support and commendation.”
Other Republicans accused their Democratic colleagues of hypocrisy by bringing up the allegations surrounding the Pentagon nominee.
After Kaine’s grilling of Hegseth, GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota thanked Hegseth for his “willingness to endure this” and said he was “embarrassed for this behavior.”
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma rhetorically asked Democrats on the committee why senators haven’t asked their colleagues to step down for infidelity or drinking during late-night votes.
“How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job? And don’t tell me you haven’t, because I know you have,” Mullin said.
Reed responded that if any senators were, in fact, nominated for secretary of defense, they would be subject to the same scrutiny now surrounding Hegseth. He noted that then-Sen. John Tower was nominated for defense secretary by President George H.W. Bush in 1989 and was rejected by the Senate amid questions over excessive drinking.
Reed argued that the Hegseth confirmation process was being rushed through, saying the FBI’s background investigation of Hegseth was incomplete. He also pressed for the FBI’s background check to be shared among all senators.
“I believe the investigation was insufficient, frankly. There’s still FBI obligations to talk to people,” Reed said.
The FBI did not interview several key women from Hegseth’s past, including his two ex-wives and the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in California in 2017, according to a person with knowledge of the FBI’s report on Hegseth that was briefed to the Senate Armed Services Committee leadership this week.
Reed said that Hegseth was not “qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.”
“The totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the secretary of defense,” Reed said.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Haley Britzky, Michael Conte, Lauren Fox, Kaanita Iyer, Manu Raju and Haley Talbot contributed to this report.
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