Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth meets with Senator-elect Jim Banks (R-IN) on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 5, 2024.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Secretary of Defense hopeful Pete Hegseth is ready to seem for a high-stakes Senate affirmation listening to Tuesday, as he seeks to beat an expected grilling from Democrats about his {qualifications} to steer the Pentagon, the nation’s largest authorities company.
The listening to earlier than the Senate Armed Services Committee can be prone to put a highlight on just lately surfaced allegations of previous sexual impropriety and alcohol abuse by Hegseth.
The 44-year-old Army veteran and former Fox News host can also must defend himself in opposition to allegations that he mismanaged two veterans’ nonprofits years earlier.
The listening to is ready to start at 9:30 a.m. ET.
President-elect Donald Trump has stood behind Hegseth, who has pushed again on the allegations.
He denied being pushed out of the 2 vets’ teams, and stated he wouldn’t drink alcohol if he was confirmed as Defense secretary.
He has additionally denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a lady at a resort in 2017, whereas he was at Fox. A probe by police in Monterey, California, ended with out fees in opposition to Hegseth. His lawyer, who repeatedly known as the accusations false, has acknowledged that Hegseth reached a confidential settlement with the lady.
The district lawyer later stated she did not file charges as a result of, “No fees have been supported by proof past an inexpensive doubt.”
In his ready opening remarks shared with NBC News, Hegseth doesn’t point out the controversies about his alleged private habits.
But he says he’s “extremely proud” of the work he did for the nonprofits, and defends his resume and management credentials.
While he served excursions in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, Hegseth has considerably much less senior navy or authorities expertise than different latest Pentagon leaders. Current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as an illustration, has greater than 40 years of navy expertise and had served as commander of U.S. Central Command.
“It is true that I haven’t got the same biography to Defense Secretaries of the final 30 years,” Hegseth’s opening assertion says.
“But, as President Trump additionally informed me, we have repeatedly positioned folks atop the Pentagon with supposedly ‘the appropriate credentials’ — whether or not they’re retired generals, lecturers, or protection contractor executives — and the place has it gotten us?” it says.
The revelations about Hegseth bred hypothesis that he may develop into the second of Trump’s picks to withdraw, following former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz scrapping his bid for lawyer common.
But some Republicans have reportedly signaled in latest days that they consider Hegseth has sufficient help to advance previous the Armed Services Committee and be confirmed by the Senate.
The circumstances of Hegseth’s nomination have drawn comparisons to the dramatic senate listening to centered on sexual assault allegations in opposition to Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee.
Kavanaugh, who vehemently denied these accusations, was confirmed 50-48.
This is creating information. Please test again for updates.
