Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, arrived for a Senate hearing Tuesday. Members of Trump's future Cabinet are required to attend a hearing and answer questions from lawmakers, who are then expected to vote on and formally confirm the appointment. Hegseth's hearingbefore the Senate Foreign Relations and National Security Committee was stormy and lasted hours. It dealt with controversies surrounding the politically inexperienced Hegseth, including his drinking habits and his relationship with women in the shadow of a complaint of sexual assault.
Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor, is said to have been chosen as Trump's nominee because the president-elect liked his television appearances. He responded to most questions at the hearing with attacks on the "leftist" media, or with religious-sounding answers such as: "I failed at many things in my life, and Jesus saved me."
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Trump's nominee for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth
(Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))
Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense is 44 and a former captain in the U.S. National Guard. He has extensive combat experience, and served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and other places. Hegseth became friends with Trump during the years he worked at Fox News, when hosted him on his show.
The choice of the inexperienced Hegseth stunned not only the Pentagon, but also Trump's advisers. Quite a few Republicans reacted rather coolly to the choice of someone who had combat experience in the field, but not in government management, certainly not a huge department like the Department of Defense.
Hegseth is known for his staunch opposition to women serving in combat, and has previously accused the U.S. military of lowering standards to allow women to join combat units. In a recent book, Hegseth railed against initiatives in the military designed to make it more diverse and equal. The defense secretary-designate also questioned whether U.S. Chief of Staff Charles Brown was chosen for the position because he is black.
"I don't believe you are qualified for the position," Democratic Senator Jack Reid, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and National Security Committee, told Hegseth.
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Pete Hegseth interviews Donald Trump in 2017, when the Defense Secretary nominee was a reporter for Fox News
(Photo: Kevin Lamarque/File Photo/Reuters)
At the Senate hearing, Hegseth said he would consider removing women from combat roles, and would also change the military's policy on combating climate change. He avoided committing to resigning if he were caught drunk while serving as defense secretary, and did not answer the question of whether he would follow Trump's order to shoot protesters in the legs.
During the hearing, Hegseth was asked if he defined himself as a Christian-Zionist, and he replied: "“I am a Christian and I robustly support the state of Israel and its existential defense and the way America comes alongside them as their great ally."
He also said that “I support Israel in destroying and killing every last member of Hamas." He added that the United States should distance itself from "the complications of the Middle East" and concentrate on "the threats coming from China and the Indo-Pacific region." The committee, which has a Republican majority, will next vote on whether to forward Hegseth's nomination to a vote of the entire Senate.
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Trump himself, who has been following the hearing with incessant social media posts, will become the 47th president of the United States on Monday afternoon. Unlike his term as the 45th president, this time when he takes office the U.S. system of checks and balances will not hinder him since both the House of Representatives and the Senate have Republican majorities. Trump promises to sign hundreds of executive orders on his first day in office and launch his promised campaign of revenge.
According to a report by the Associated Press, senior officials in the incoming administration have already begun investigating long-time civil servants on the White House National Security Council. They are checking who these people voted for in the last election and whether they posted on social media against Trump. At least some of those employees have already started packing their belongings, after receiving indications that they will not remain employed in the new administration.
Meanwhile, the office of former first lady Michelle Obama announced that she does not plan to attend the ceremony where Trump will replace Joe Biden. Husband Barack Obama will attend the ceremony, as will former presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, accompanied by their wives. Elon Musk -Trump's close associate, who will hold an official position in the incoming administration, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos will sit on the main stage at the ceremony.