Pete Hegseth thanked senators for their “amazing advice” as they scrutinize the incoming Trump administration’s nominee to head the Department of Defense during a grueling confirmation process.
President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to tap Hegseth to lead the Pentagon last month stunned Washington insiders, who fumed over the veteran’s outsider status and lack of bureaucratic experience in the military establishment. With Hegseth quickly being inundated by allegations of sexual misconduct and alcoholism, Trump’s allies have spent the past month endeavoring to solidify GOP support for the DOD nominee in the upper chamber ahead of his Senate confirmation vote.
Although support for Hegseth on Capitol Hill has been on unsteady ground, even among Republicans, Hegseth offered glowing words for senators, particularly Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), during an interview on Monday evening.
“You get into these meetings, and you get to listen to senators — it’s an amazing advice and consent process, and you hear how thoughtful, serious, and substantive they are on these key issues as they pertain to our Defense Department,” Hegseth mused in comments on Fox News’s Hannity, later adding that Ernst is “front and center on that.”
“The fact that she’s willing to support me through this process means a lot,” he said.
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Ernst holds considerable sway among Senate Republicans. She met with Hegseth on Monday, after which the DOD nominee thanked her for giving him “support” and “ongoing counsel.”
“It was a great meeting. People don’t really know this, I’ve known Sen. Ernst for over 10 years. I knew her when she was a state senator running to be the first female combat veteran,” Hegseth said in remarks that softened his rhetoric around his opposition to females in combat roles.
Hegseth said he is seeing Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) on Tuesday and meeting on Wednesday with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). The two senators are viewed as centrist and possible roadblocks to a Senate confirmation.
Hegseth also gave deeper insight into Trump’s hopes for reform in the Pentagon.
“I’ll just say what he told me: Return the Pentagon to the warfighters,” Hegseth told host Sean Hannity.
“Get in there and clean out all the social justice, politically correct garbage on top, and get back to lethality, warfighting, accountability, meritocracy, and readiness. … Return to that and change the culture of the institution … address the recruiting crisis, address the retention crisis,” Hegseth continued.
Hegseth previously promised to complete a full audit of the Pentagon after the country’s largest military agency revealed earlier this month it had failed its seventh audit in a row.
While speculation swirled last week that Trump was considering backing away from Hegseth and shifting his sights to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Hegseth rebuffed the rumors on Monday.
“I give so much credit to President Trump. He’s got a backbone of steel. He never backs down. He called me and said, ‘Pete, you keep fighting.’ And when he picked me, he said, ‘Pete, it’s because I know you can do this. You’re gonna tough this out, stare these folks down, and stand up for the change that needs to come to the Defense Department,’” Hegseth said.
“If he can do what he’s done, Sean, then I can stick up to this line of press and fight out for the American people and our warfighters,” he concluded.
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Vice President-elect J.D. Vance likewise told reporters on Friday that “we’re not abandoning this nomination. We’re not going to make it easy for people to allow the media to determine who our secretary of defense is.”
“I think Pete’s going to get confirmed, and we are completely behind him. I have talked to Joni. I’ve talked to a number of my colleagues about this nomination and about other nominations. All I’m asking is that people actually allow the Senate process to work. We do not determine important government officials based on anonymous sourcing from the American media,” Vance said.
