Defense Secretary Nominee Hegseth Meets With Senators Amid Ongoing

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Pete Hegseth has been meeting with GOP senators this week on Capitol Hill to build support for his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump as defense secretary.

Hegseth spent time with lawmakers behind closed doors on Monday and Tuesday as part of the confirmation process.

The decorated Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News host is currently facing several misconduct allegations.

After meeting with the nominee on Monday, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said in a statement that Hegseth is the right person to lead the Pentagon, citing his ability to address the tanking recruitment numbers in the military.

“Pete Hegseth has what it takes to get soldiers to buy into the mission and reverse the recruitment disaster,” Tuberville wrote on X.

“With recruitment tanking, what better way to inspire young men and women to join the most lethal fighting force in the world than by nominating a decorated veteran who served in two wars and is closer to their age?”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) called him an “outstanding choice” for the role.

“I am confident he will bolster our military and make an excellent addition to the Trump administration,” Blackburn wrote in a Tuesday post on X.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that Hegseth is “laser-focused on ending the wokeness” in the armed forces after meeting with him on Monday.

“Under his leadership, the DOD will return to making America and our allies safer around the globe,” Cruz said in a statement.

However, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, recently expressed some concern over sexual assault allegations made against Hegseth in 2017.

“It’s a pretty big problem, given that we have, you know, we have a sexual assault problem in our military,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill last month.

Cramer also acknowledged that the confirmation process must play out.

“This is why you have background checks. This is why you have hearings. This is why you have to go through the scrutiny. I’m not going to prejudge him, but yeah, it’s a pretty concerning accusation,” he said.

A police report from 2017 revealed that a woman told law enforcement that Hegseth allegedly sexually assaulted her after he reportedly took her phone and refused to let her leave a California hotel room.

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said that her office declined to file charges because they did not have “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” which Hegseth reiterated to reporters.

“The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared,” Hegseth told the media on Capitol Hill last month.

The defense secretary nominee also faces separate anonymous allegations about being intoxicated multiple times as CEO of Concerned Veterans for America.

When asked by a reporter about the claims of being drunk while on the job, Hegseth said he wouldn’t dignify the question with a response.

Jason Miller, Trump’s senior adviser, dismissed the accusations as “innuendo and gossip” during an interview on CNN.

“So when it comes to Pete Hegseth, there aren’t any concerns and we feel very good about his positioning for being confirmed by the Senate,” Miller told CNN on Tuesday.

He also said that senators will continue to meet with Hegesth as part of the process.

“That’s because the Senate takes it so serious to go and have the one-on-one meetings, to have these confirmation hearings, to give senators the chance to kick the tires and get some of these questions answered on their own,” Miller said.