Hegseth faces allegations of misconduct during his confirmation hearing

Policy

“It’s time to give the reins to someone with dust on their boots. Agent of change,” Hegseth said in opening remarks.

By LISA MASCARO, TARA COPP and MATT BROWN, Associated Press

January 14, 2025 | 16:01

4 minutes to read

WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Donald TrumpDefense Secretary-elect Pete Hegseth vowed Tuesday to support a “warrior culture” at the Pentagon and confronted allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking and questions about his derisive views on women in combat during a heated Senate hearing.

Hegseth repeatedly denied various allegations of misconduct and instead focused on his own combat experiences in the National Guard as senators determined whether the combat veteran and former TV host was fit to lead the U.S. military.

“It’s time to give the reins to someone with dust on their boots. Agent of change,” Hegseth said in opening remarks.

When asked directly about the sexual assault allegations, Hegseth dismissed them as a “smear campaign,” as he did in response to a series of rapid-fire questions about his personal behavior and complaints about drinking on the job. He vowed not to drink alcohol if confirmed to lead the Pentagon. But when pressed about his marital infidelity, Hegseth admitted: “I’m not a perfect person.”

Senators spent hours investigating concerns about Hegseth, and the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmed the “unconventional” choice. But Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., compared Hegseth to Trump himself and said he would “bring energy and fresh ideas to shake up the bureaucracy.”

But the top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, called the allegations “extremely alarming” and said flatly: “I do not believe you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.”

Hegseth, 44, comes from a new generation of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his military experience is widely seen as an advantage. But it also presents a harrowing record of past actions and statements, including those involving women, minorities and “woke” generals.

Hegseth also lacks the qualifications typical of a defense secretary, raising questions about his ability to manage an organization of nearly 2.1 million troops, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of about $850 billion.

The more than four-hour hearing marked the beginning of a week-long marathon as the Republican-led Senate rushes to have some of Trump’s nominees ready for confirmation on Inauguration Day, January 20. With the GOP’s slim majority, almost all Republicans must support Trump’s Choice if Democrats oppose.

Hegseth faces perhaps the toughest road to confirmation, but GOP allies are determined to make him a celebration of Trump’s approach to governing amid the country’s culture wars. Outside groups, including those affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, are running expensive campaigns to support Hegseth’s bid.

The audience included groups of men wearing clothes expressing support for veterans or military service, but also protesters who temporarily disrupted the proceedings but were removed from the hall.

Hegseth was combative at times as he was forced to deal with allegations of misconduct and his own comments that strayed from the military mainstream.

Pressed on his opposition to diversity initiatives, Hegseth agreed that the military “was a forerunner of bold racial integration.” But he argued that contemporary diversity and inclusion policies are “dividing” the current military and not prioritizing “meritocracy.”

In a striking scene, several Democratic senators sharply criticized Hegseth for his comments that women should not be in combat roles “right away,” a view he has softened since his nomination.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., has noticed this change. “Which one is this?”

In one sharp exchange, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told Hegseth, “You’re going to have to change the way you view women if they want to do this job.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, R-Ill., who lost both legs when the Blackhawk helicopter she was piloting was shot down, displayed the soldier’s creed that she said hung on her hospital bed and by which all military service members should live. She told the candidate that soldiers “cannot be commanded by someone who is not competent.”

Many senators have not yet met with Hegseth, and most do not have access to his FBI background check because only committee leaders have been briefed on the findings. Reed called the background check “insufficient.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Hegseth if he would agree to a more complete assessment of the FBI, but he declined, saying it was not up to him. Trump’s transition would have to demand it.

Republican senators took turns supporting the nominee, with Sen. Markewayne Mullin, R-Okla. he claimed that “we all made mistakes” and urged Hegseth to say something nice about his wife and children.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, D-Miss., called Hegseth “a breath of fresh air” after he talked about the need to uproot diversity and critical race initiatives “uprooting and branching out from institutions.”

And when GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a military veteran and sexual assault survivor, questioned Hegseth, he told her that serving as secretary of defense for men and women in uniform would be “the privilege of a lifetime.”

Hegseth was largely unknown on Capitol Hill when Trump hired him for the top Pentagon job.

The former co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” has been with the network since 2014 and has apparently caught the attention of the president-elect, who is an avid consumer of television and news channels, in a specific way.

Hegseth attended Princeton University and served in the National Guard from 2002 to 2021, then deployed to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and earned two Bronze Stars. However, he lacks senior military and national security experience.

In 2017, a woman told police that Hegseth had sexually assaulted her, according to a detailed investigative report that was recently made public. Hegseth denied any wrongdoing and told police at the time that the meeting at a California Republican Party women’s event was consensual. He later paid the woman a confidential settlement to head off a potential lawsuit.

If confirmed, Hegseth will assume military duties while dealing with a series of international crises and domestic challenges in recruiting, retaining troops and ongoing funding.

The Secretary is responsible for tens of thousands of U.S. troops deployed overseas and at sea, including in combat zones. The Secretary makes all final recommendations to the President regarding what units will be deployed, where they will go, and how long they will stay.

Pentagon chiefs regularly travel around the world, meeting with international leaders on a wide range of security issues, and also play a key role in NATO as a key partner to allies across the region.

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.