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Is Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., having his Joni Ernst moment? It sure seems like it.

On Wednesday, the Hoosier State’s senior senator told CNN mouthpiece Manu Raju he’s still undecided as to whether he will support Pete Hegseth’s nomination to become the next secretary of defense. The comments came after the two veterans met to discuss Hegseth’s potential promotion earlier that day.

“I haven’t decided yet, as I’ve shared with him and happy to share with others…We had a good meeting. It was an extensive conversation, and he answered the questions I asked,” Young reportedly said. “We had a very fulsome meeting. We covered everything on my mind, and I suspect the minds of most everyone that’s watching this.”

Putting aside the fact that he apparently doesn’t know what “fulsome” means, Young’s remarks are a disgrace. Indiana voters reelected Donald Trump to the White House by a nearly 20-point margin last month with a mandate to alter the Washington status quo. But rather than endorse Hegseth’s confirmation like Indiana Sen.-elect Jim Banks, Young has taken it upon himself to ignore the will of his constituents and play games with Hegseth’s nomination.

When pressed on why the Indiana senator has reportedly declined to commit to supporting Hegseth’s nomination despite previously voting to confirm Biden-appointed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Young Communications Director Matt Lahr didn’t provide The Federalist with a direct answer. Instead, he said that Young and Hegseth “had a great meeting yesterday afternoon and [Young] looks forward to the confirmation hearing.”

Lahr also referred The Federalist to a post on X the senator issued yesterday after his meeting with Hegseth, in which Young noted his appreciation for Hegseth’s “candor as [they] discussed our readiness challenges, the China threat, auditing the Pentagon, his vision for DoD, and other important national security issues.”

Young’s refusal to back Hegseth’s nomination isn’t surprising, however. The GOP senator has spent much of his career defending the D.C. establishment.

Young had no issue joining Democrats in confirming radical left-wing Biden appointees like Austin, Antony Blinken, and Janet Yellen. The Indiana senator did, however, have a problem with endorsing Trump’s presidential run this year, which he refused to do even after it became clear Trump would be the GOP nominee.

Last year, Young was one of several Republican senators to join Democrats in attacking Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., for protesting the Pentagon’s unlawful and immoral abortion policy. Young and his GOP colleagues’ cowardice forced Tuberville to abandon his protest, allowing the Defense Department’s use of taxpayer dollars to subsidize abortion-related travel to continue unabated.

In the summer of 2022, Young joined Senate Democrats in advancing a radical gun control package. As my colleague Jordan Boyd reported, the bill included “vague language” about “dating partners” and red flag laws, “which allow law enforcement to temporarily confiscate guns from someone the government deems a danger to the public or themselves,” and can “be easily exploited by partisan bureaucrats.”

Later that same year, Young again helped Democrats by supporting the wrongly named “Respect for Marriage Act.” The bill effectively opened up the legal system to abuse by left-wing LGBT activists to harass Christians and other religious Americans who uphold the true meaning of marriage.

Within the past congressional session alone, Young has voted for bloated spending bills, a suspension of the debt ceiling, and shipping more U.S. taxpayer dollars to foreign countries such as Ukraine. The Indiana Republican also opposed an amendment introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that sought to create a special inspector general to oversee all U.S. funds given to Ukraine.

Unfortunately, Young’s track record isn’t unique among the Senate GOP. He’s one of many “red state” Republicans who have regularly betrayed their voters’ interests and empowered the federal leviathan destroying the country through reckless spending, lawfare, and more.

If Hoosiers want Hegseth confirmed as the next defense secretary, they need to give Young the Joni Ernst treatment.

After The Federalist reported on Sen. Ernst’s behind-the-scene efforts to sabotage Hegseth’s nomination, an avalanche of pressure from conservatives forced the Iowa Republican to signal support for his confirmation. Without such blowback, it’s unlikely Ernst and her sidekick Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would’ve changed their tune on the matter.

Red-state Republicans like Young need to be put in check. Voters sent them to Washington to fulfill a job — and that is to represent and vote for their interests. If these Republicans refuse to do so, it’s incumbent upon their voters to primary them out of office and send a message to other weak-kneed GOPers that betraying their constituents won’t be tolerated.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood