After a weekend of brutal headlines disclosing sexual assault allegations against Pete Hegseth, Senate Republicans are offering a tepid defense of Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon.
Republicans have downplayed and deflected when asked about Hegseth — arguing Trump picked an outsider to shake up the Pentagon bureaucracy or that the confirmation process should play out.
“Let me say this: I have asked to read the allegations and I honestly have not had time to look at it, so I just can’t comment,” Senate Armed Services ranking Republican Roger Wicker said on Monday. “I am looking to be very supportive of his nomination.”
By Tuesday, Wicker, who will preside over Hegseth’s confirmation process when Republicans take control of the Senate in January, wasn’t taking reporters’ questions. Other Republicans also said they’ll wait and see.
Four Republicans would need to defect to sink Hegseth’s nomination, and all senators are facing immense pressure from Trump and his camp to approve his Cabinet picks. The campaign will kick into higher gear this week, as Vice President-elect JD Vance accompanies Hegseth and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the embattled pick for attorney general, to meetings with Republican senators on Capitol Hill.
The selection of Hegseth, a weekend Fox & Friends host and Army veteran, has been dogged by a series of controversies, the most serious of which revolve around allegations of sexual assault. Hegseth’s lawyer said that Hegseth in 2017 paid a woman who accused him of the crime to settle a threatened lawsuit, calling the episode “successful extortion.” Hegseth denies the allegations, asserting the encounter was consensual, while police investigated and Hegseth was never charged.
Meanwhile, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a combat veteran, has said Hegseth needs to explain his opposition to women serving in combat roles. The newly surfaced assault allegations, she said Tuesday, would also merit a “discussion.”
“Any time there are allegations, you want to make sure they are properly vetted, so we’ll have that discussion,” Ernst said.
When asked for their views, some panel Republicans who will have a say in Hegseth’s coming confirmation process quickly changed the subject to Hegseth’s unconventional background, which they framed as a strength.
Another Armed Services Republican, Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), pointed to an eventual confirmation hearing for Hegseth, arguing “There’s a constitutional process, and we’ll go through that.”
“Let’s remember, Donald Trump was elected to shake up Washington as is, and I think that’s one of the reasons why he chose Pete Hegseth,” Budd said.
Though Hegseth’s confirmation is ultimately in the hands of Republicans, who will hold a 53-seat majority next year, Democrats on Tuesday were still mulling their options for handling the allegations and the nomination overall.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services and Judiciary committees, questioned whether the transition team had performed the normal FBI background check for a Defense secretary nominee and expected SASC would institute its own. Each committee, he noted, can do its own inquiry and has subpoena power.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who publicly asks all nominees for Pentagon jobs about whether they’ve engaged in sexual misconduct, said the allegations “are disqualifying,” if true.
“There are just so many aspects to this nominee’s behavior and positions he’s taken that should give us pause, huge pause,” Hirono said. “I don’t know how my colleagues are [approaching the nomination], but we’re all going to need to figure out what we’re going to do with this nominee.”
Anthony Adragna contributed to this report.