Republicans appear to know that Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense isn’t a sure thing.
Military veteran and Fox New host Pete Hegseth’s nomination has been under fire from the moment Trump announced him as his pick. On Sunday, The New Yorker published a report alleging Hegseth had a history of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and mismanagement at the two veterans organizations he ran.
The New Yorker report compounds allegations detailed in a 2017 police report that Hegseth sexually assaulted a woman. Hegseth was not charged, and has maintained that he was “cleared.”
Hegseth met with Republican senators Monday, hours after The New Yorker report was published. Republicans have acknowledged the challenges he faces in a confirmation hearing.
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“As I told him, I said, ‘You’re gonna have to have all your ducks in a row,’ and he will when it comes to explaining all that,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville said.
Others hedged.
“This is what the confirmation hearing is for,” Sen. Josh Hawley told NOTUS. “But you know, this is why I respectfully urge my colleagues who have concerns — that’s fine, but let him testify.”
“Let him take the oath, let him answer questions,” Hawley added.
Republicans are largely standing firm behind Hegseth.
“The Democrats and the press are obsessed with personal accusations,” Sen. Ted Cruz said after a meeting late Monday night with other Republican senators where Hegseth spoke. “The American people care about restoring our military and defending this nation.”
Sens. Tuberville, Mike Lee, Cynthia Lummis and Mike Braun were among those that met with Hegseth on Monday night.
One senator said the meeting was “a chance to ask questions in a better atmosphere.”
Senators said the allegations against Hegseth didn’t come up in the room.
“Pete is a serious man who was focused on that serious mission,” Cruz said of the meeting, telling reporters that the allegations against him shouldn’t be the focus of their questions.
Hegseth talked about recruiting, modernizing the military and moving away from “woke politics,” according to Cruz. Lee also said there wasn’t discussion of the reports of Hegseth’s excessive drinking or sexual assault allegations. Instead, he said that Hegseth promised “on day one” to institute a number of policy changes at Defense, removing what he and his colleagues called “woke politics” — though Lee didn’t get into the specifics of what would actually change.
“Are soldiers sometimes wild childs? Yeah, that can happen,” Lummis said of the allegations. “But it’s very clear that this guy is the guy who, at a time when Americans are losing confidence in their own military and our ability to project strength around the world, that Pete Hegseth is the answer to that concern.”
As NOTUS previously reported, Hegseth’s nomination caught many Republicans off guard. Sen. Joni Ernst was privately expressing interest in the post, with the backing of national security leaders. Meanwhile, several lawmakers didn’t even recognize Hegseth’s name. Since his nomination, some Republicans have been withholding their support until the confirmation process plays out.
Across the aisle, Sen. Jack Reed, the chair of the Armed Services committee, said that it’s concerning to see “questions accumulating rapidly” about Hegseth’s character and capability to fulfill the job of secretary of defense. But he isn’t a “no” vote yet.
“I have to listen to him, you have to be fair, in this process,” Reed said.
That confirmation hearing is, as Cruz put it, “a spectacle.” But it’s the part of the process that most Republicans are saying will make or break Hegseth’s nomination.
Sen. John Kennedy was asked about emails obtained by The New York Times where Hegseth’s own mother said her son ”belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power.”
“Well, that’s why God made confirmation hearings,” he said.
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John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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