{"id":2390359,"date":"2025-01-14T19:19:55","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T00:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-takeaways-from-pete-hegseths-contentious-senate-hearing\/"},"modified":"2025-01-14T19:21:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T00:21:55","slug":"top-takeaways-from-pete-hegseths-contentious-senate-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-takeaways-from-pete-hegseths-contentious-senate-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Top takeaways from Pete Hegseth&#8217;s contentious senate hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftop-takeaways-from-pete-hegseths-contentious-senate-hearing%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2390359&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a \u2064recent \u200cSenate Armed Services Committee hearing, Pete Hegseth, nominated for the position of\u200b Secretary of Defense \u200bby \u2062President-elect Donald Trump, faced a\u200d contentious evaluation. \u200dWhile \u200bRepublican senators expressed strong \u200bsupport for his nomination, Democrats\u200c raised significant concerns about his \u2062qualifications. Hegseth characterized himself \u200das a\u2063 &#8220;change agent,&#8221; critiquing the Department of defense\u2063 for straying from it&#8217;s core mission of lethality \u200bin defense of U.S. interests.<\/p>\n<p>Key issues discussed included\u200d Hegseth&#8217;s previous comments \u2063against women serving in combat roles, which prompted intense questioning from Democrats, especially from Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren. Hegseth acknowledged his past statements but \u200bstated that women\u200c would have access too combat\u200b positions if high standards were maintained. Despite the\u200b resistance \u200bfrom Democrats, they \u200clack the votes to block his confirmation, with only \u200ba \u200dfew Republican defections\u2062 needed to stop the\u2062 nomination.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing highlighted Hegseth&#8217;s commitment to critical issues like <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">sexual assault prevention<\/a> in the \u2064military and \u200bmaintaining rigorous standards for service members. the Republican support for Hegseth remains strong, suggesting\u200c a path forward for \u200chis confirmation despite \u200cthe partisan divisions evident during \u200cthe hearing.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Four takeaways from Pete Hegseth&rsquo;s contentious Senate hearing<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1935201\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pete Hegseth<\/a> spent several hours in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, where Republicans largely praised his nomination, and Democrats questioned his fitness for the position of secretary of defense.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The former Fox News host promised to be a &ldquo;change agent&rdquo; for a department that he argued, like many Republicans have, has strayed from its mission of lethality and defending U.S. interests abroad. Republicans on the committee defended and praised his nomination and President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s plans to overhaul the Department of Defense, while Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3285801\/pete-hegseth-confirmation-hearing-senate-trump-defense-nominee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">grilled<\/a> him over concerns that his past disqualifies him from the role.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the Democrats&rsquo; attacks, they are largely powerless to stop his nomination and any of Trump&rsquo;s Cabinet selections. The Democrats need at least three Republicans to vote against any nomination to block the nominee from assuming the role.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3285801\/pete-hegseth-confirmation-hearing-senate-trump-defense-nominee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"HEGSETH FIGHTS BACK AGAINST &lsquo;SMEAR CAMPAIGN&rsquo; AS DEMOCRATS CHARGE HE IS UNQUALIFIED TO LEAD PENTAGON\"><strong>HEGSETH FIGHTS BACK AGAINST &lsquo;SMEAR CAMPAIGN&rsquo; AS DEMOCRATS CHARGE HE IS UNQUALIFIED TO LEAD PENTAGON<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. GOP fall in line<\/h2>\n<p>There were initial concerns that Hegseth would lose a handful of GOP senators&rsquo; support, possibly tanking his nomination, but that no longer appears to be a concern after Tuesday&rsquo;s hearing. Republicans on the committee clearly and loudly supported his nomination during the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joni-ernst\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Joni Ernst<\/a> (R-IA), one of two female veteran senators on the committee and a sexual assault survivor, was one Republican in particular to watch, but she backed Hegseth during the hearing. She and Hegseth met several times privately ahead of the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth could only lose three Republicans to still gain enough votes to get confirmed, but that does not look like it will be a concern. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I do appreciate you sitting down and allowing me the opportunity to question you thoroughly on those issues that are of great importance to me,&rdquo; Ernst said. &ldquo;One is the DOD and making sure that we have a clean audit. The second is women in combat, and we&rsquo;ll talk a little bit more about that in a moment. And the third was maintaining high standards and making sure that we are combating sexual assault in the military.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>She concluded her time by asking Hegseth if he would commit to appointing a &ldquo;senior level official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response,&rdquo; to which he said he would.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Women in combat<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, arrives for his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, Jan. 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik \/ Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hegseth&rsquo;s previous comments about not supporting women in combat roles in the military were a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3286186\/pete-hegseth-clarifies-role-women-military\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"major source of contention during Tuesday's hearing\">major source of contention during his hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn&rsquo;t made us more effective. Hasn&rsquo;t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated,&rdquo; he said on a podcast hosted by Shawn Ryan on Nov. 7, days before Trump nominated him as the next secretary of defense.<\/p>\n<p>Upon questioning by senators, Hegseth explained, &ldquo;My critiques, senator, recently and in the past and from personal experience, have been instances where I&rsquo;ve seen standards lowered,&rdquo; adding, &ldquo;Yes, women will have access to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/armys-controversial-fitness-test-might-become-official-this-year\/\" title=\"Army\u2019s Controversial Fitness Test Might Become Official This Year\">ground combat roles<\/a> given the standards remain high and we&rsquo;ll have a review to ensure the standards have not been eroded.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Women make up approximately 18% of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/seven-days-in-january-all-living-former-secretaries-of-defense-warn-trump-over-election-fight\/\" title=\"Seven Days in January? All Living Former Secretaries of Defense Warn Trump Over Election Fight\">armed forces<\/a>, totaling nearly 400,000 service members.<\/p>\n<p>Several Democrats questioned him about the subject, including a heated moment with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3286186\/pete-hegseth-clarifies-role-women-military\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">told<\/a> the nominee, &ldquo;You will have to change the way you see women to do this job well, and I don&rsquo;t know if you are capable of that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also questioned Hegseth&rsquo;s change of opinion on women in combat in the month since he was announced as Trump&rsquo;s pick.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a very, very big about-face in a very short amount of time,&rdquo; Warren said, accusing the nominee of changing his perspective in an effort to secure the nomination.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard deathbed conversions, but this is the first time I&rsquo;ve seen a nomination conversion,&rdquo; Warren added.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Qualifications for the job<\/h2>\n<p>The Pentagon&rsquo;s budget is roughly $850 billion annually, and the military is comprised of roughly 3 million people.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to joining Fox News, Hegseth served as the head of two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meet-pete-hegseth-the-veteran-culture-warrior-picked-to-lead-the-us-military-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Meet Pete Hegseth, the veteran culture warrior picked to lead the US military - Washington Examiner\">veteran advocacy groups<\/a>, and there have been allegations of financial mismanagement under his leadership, which he denied. Both groups, by his own admission, are much smaller entities in terms of budget and personnel.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Nothing remotely near the size of the Defense Department, I would acknowledge that,&rdquo; he said<\/p>\n<p>Democrats accused him of being unqualified to lead one of the largest, if not the largest, bureaucracies in the country.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) said experience is not &ldquo;actually not remotely near even a medium-sized company in America, let alone a big company in America, especially a major corporation. And you&rsquo;re basically, we&rsquo;re hiring you to be the CEO of one of the most complex, largest organizations in the world.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a combat veteran who lost both legs during the war in Iraq, accused Hegseth of not being qualified for the role. She asked him to &ldquo;name the importance of at least one of the nations&rdquo; in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations alliance and how many nations are in it. He answered by naming three U.S. allies in the Pacific region, South Korea, Japan, and Australia, none of which are actually a part of the alliance.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;None of those three countries that you mentioned are in ASEAN,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Past relationships and sexual assault allegations<\/h2>\n<p>Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017, an allegation that was investigated and did not result in charges. He agreed to a settlement with the unidentified woman, whom he admitted he had a consensual relationship with.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I was falsely accused in October of 2017. It was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared,&rdquo; he told lawmakers, repeating similar sentiments when faced with questions about the allegation.<\/p>\n<p>He was married to his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, from 2004 to 2009, and their marriage ended after he admitted to multiple affairs, according to the <em>New Yorker<\/em>. He married his second wife, Samantha Deering, a year later. They have three children together, but their marriage fell apart in 2017 when he impregnated a Fox News colleague, Jennifer Rauchet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) hammered Hegseth on these indiscretions, going as far as to ask him if he, in fact, &ldquo;pledged to be faithful to your wife&rdquo; during &ldquo;each of your weddings.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime,&rdquo; Kaine said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s your definition of cleared. You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I am shocked that you would stand here and say you&rsquo;re completely cleared. Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child who had been born two months before, and you tell us you were completely cleared.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1935201\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1935201\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Four key points from Pete Hegseth&#8217;s Senate hearing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2671,"featured_media":2390360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pete-hegseth-confirmation-hearing-1.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[44930,32171,48508],"class_list":["post-2390359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-political-commentary","tag-senate-hearing"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pete-hegseth-confirmation-hearing-1.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2671"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2390359"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2390363,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390359\/revisions\/2390363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2390360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2390359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2390359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2390359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}