Key takeaways from Pete Hegseth's fiery confirmation hearing

Pete Hegseth at the completion of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defence secretary, publicly faced senators for the first time after weeks of questions from Democrats — and praise from Republicans — about his “unconventional” resume.

Hegseth, a combat veteran and former TV news host, says he will be a “change agent” and a “warrior” as Republicans demand new and strong leadership at the Pentagon. Democrats say Hegseth’s lack of experience running a huge department, his past comments about women and Black troops, and allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct make him unfit to serve.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., called Hegseth’s nomination “unconventional” but compared him to Trump, saying that may just be what makes him an “excellent choice.”

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat, said Hegseth lacks “the character and the competence” to lead the U.S. Defense Department. Reed said he has voted to confirm the nine previous defence secretaries, including in Trump’s first term, but will not support Hegseth.

His confirmation would be an “an insult to the men and women who have sworn to uphold their own apolitical duty to the Constitution,” Reed said.

Here are some takeaways from Hegseth’s confirmation hearing:

A ‘warrior culture’ at the Pentagon

Hegseth told senators that Trump’s primary charge to him was “to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense” and that “he wants a Pentagon laser-focused on warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness.”

Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden’s Pentagon for encouraging diversity, equity and inclusion and say there is no place for “woke” culture in the military.

Reed said he wants Hegseth to explain why DEI efforts make the military weak and “how you propose to ‘undo’ that without undermining military leadership and harming readiness, recruitment and retention.”

Hegseth said the military “was a forerunner in courageous racial integration in ways no other institutions were willing to do” but argued that modern diversity and inclusion policies divide troops and didn’t prioritize “meritocracy.”

A secretary with ‘dust on his boots’

Republicans have praised Hegseth’s lack of a high-level leadership role. Hegseth said “it’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm.”

But Hegseth would not be the first defence secretary to have served in combat — far from it. An array of previous secretaries have had combat service, dodging bombs and leading troops into the fight, including current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was a leader in the initial invasion into Iraq.

Lt. Col. Jim Mattis, Trump’s first defence secretary, fought in the Gulf War and later retired as a four-star general. And Trump’s final acting Pentagon chief, Chris Miller, served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army special forces officer. He later retired as a colonel.

Chuck Hagel, who served under former U.S. president Barack Obama, was the first former enlisted soldier to become defence secretary. He served as a sergeant on the front lines in Vietnam.

‘Equal standards’ for female troops

Hegseth made overtures to women and Black troops, an attempt to blunt some of the criticism of his previous comments that women should “straight up” not serve in combat and his suggestions that some Black troops may not be qualified.

“It would be the privilege of a lifetime, if confirmed, to be the secretary of defence for all men and women in uniform,” Hegseth said.

At the same time, he implied that the Pentagon has lowered standards for women to fight without giving examples of those standards.

“The standards need to be the same, and they need to be high,” Hegseth said, adding that where those standards have been eroded to meet diversity quotas, that should be under review.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, told Hegseth that his quotes about women are “terrible” and harmful to morale.

“You will have to change how you see women to do this job,” she said.

A senior defence official, who wasn’t authorized to talk with the media and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the standards for military service haven’t been lowered and are based on each field and ability, not gender.

Hegseth was questioned about the issue by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iraq veteran and a survivor of sexual assault. Hegseth reiterated an earlier promise to Ernst that he will to hire a senior official to prioritize those cases in the military.

‘Insufficient’ background check

Reed told Wicker at the beginning of the hearing that he believes the FBI background check on Hegseth was “insufficient.”

“There are still FBI obligations to talk to people,” Reed said.

The background check did not probe or produce new information beyond what’s already in the public realm about Hegseth, according to a person familiar with the situation who insisted on anonymity to discuss it.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Hegseth if he’d be willing to submit to an expanded background check with interviews of former colleagues, ex-wives, “sexual assault survivors and others.”

“I’m not in charge of FBI background checks,” Hegseth said.

A focus on character

Hegseth’s hearing was focused far more on character issues than recent defence nominees have faced. Senators also questioned whether Hegseth has the management experience to do the job.

Austin and Mattis faced questions about being recently retired four-star generals but had significant support and were grilled on policy. Mark Esper, the only other Trump defence nominee to get a hearing, faced a number of questions about keeping the military apolitical and how he would make decisions on the use of military force.

Even Hegseth’s Republican supporters spent a great deal of time digging into character and leadership issues to give him more opportunities to defend himself. North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer praised his faith, while Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy asked him how many push-ups he could do. Several Republicans praised his military service and described him as “tough.”

Hegseth acknowledged he’s only run organizations with at most a couple hundred people and said he would surround himself with knowledgeable staff.

“I know what I don’t know,” Hegseth said.

‘I’m not a perfect person’

Hegseth did not directly address the allegations of sexual misconduct and aggressively pushed back on Democrats who asked questions about it, calling it a “coordinated smear campaign.”

“I’m not a perfect person but redemption is real,” Hegseth said.

In 2017, a woman told police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her, according to a detailed investigative report recently made public. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing and told police at the time that the encounter at a Republican women’s event in California was consensual. He was not charged but paid the woman a confidential settlement to head off a potential lawsuit.

Asked by Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat, if he had entered into a settlement, Hegseth replied that he was falsely accused. He has said repeatedly that he was “completely cleared.”

Hirono also asked him about reports of excessive drinking. Hegseth has told Republican senators in meetings over the last month that he will not drink on the job.

Republicans dismissed the allegations. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., noted that Democratic senators had asked Hegseth about his drinking, saying, “How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it, because I know you have,” Mullin said to his colleagues.

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Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Tara Copp and Lisa Mascaro contributed reporting.

Mary Clare Jalonick And Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press