Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) accused Pete Hegseth of not making the time to meet with Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee ahead of his confirmation.
Hegseth is one of President-elect Donald Trump’s more controversial Cabinet nominees. He was tapped to lead the Defense Department, though he has faced an uphill battle in winning over the trust of senators in both parties.
Hegseth’s confirmation hearing is scheduled to start Tuesday, just six days before Trump’s inauguration.
Blumenthal has been deeply critical of Hegseth’s nomination, sharing in a letter that there needs to be a full review of the two veteran advocacy organizations Hegseth headed when he was accused of mismanaging funds.
In addition, Blumenthal said Hegseth refused “to make himself available to meet with me and my Democratic colleagues in advance of his nomination hearing.”
But top aides to Hegseth told the Hill that the Cabinet nominee has been trying to set up meetings with senators for at least a month.
“This is partisan blustering designed to slow down the confirmation process at a time when it’s incredibly critical that President Trump has his national security team in place on Day One,” an aide to Hegseth told the outlet. “It is simply untrue to say Mr. Hegseth has refused to meet with any senators, Democrat or Republican.”
Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, confirmed in an email to the Washington Examiner that the statement from Hegseth’s aide is accurate.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Blumenthal’s office to determine when Hegseth was in contact but did not receive a response.
Amid accusations of sexual assault, womanizing, drunken misconduct, and mismanaging the finances of two veteran organizations, Hegseth’s nomination has been rocky. Both he and Trump have been meeting with Republican lawmakers in an effort to convince them to vote for his confirmation. Hegseth can only afford to have three Republican senators vote against him.
Hegseth has not met with Blumenthal and some other Democrats, but he did meet with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) a month ago.
He has been criticized for meeting with the Democrat, who is not on the Armed Services Committee, though his eventual confirmation will require votes from all senators, not just those on specific committees.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also echoed concerns that Hegseth’s FBI background check was not thorough.
“I am deeply concerned by the many ways in which your behavior and rhetoric indicates that you are unfit to lead the Department of Defense,” Warren wrote in a 33-page letter with more than 70 questions addressed to Hegseth. “Your confirmation as Secretary of Defense would be detrimental to our national security and disrespect a diverse array of service members who are willing to sacrifice for our country.”
