Hegseth preps for contentious confirmation hearing with Republican help

Donald Trump’s nomination for Secretary of Defence has been undergoing hours of questions in a mock hearing room in preparation for his appearance before the Armed Services Committee.

Pete Hegseth, US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defence, arrives for a meeting in Washington DC. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

Pete Hegseth drilled for hours last week in a mock hearing room with Republican senators playing Democrats, preparing for what is expected to be a contentious confirmation hearing for the Pentagon nominee.

The practice sessions featured stand-ins for Democrats peppering Hegseth with questions like those he could face on Tuesday before the Armed Services Committee, lawmakers and aides involved said.

The gruelling preparations, though not unusual, highlight the narrow margin of error Hegseth is facing both in committee and the full Senate.

Democratic senators – and perhaps some Republicans – are expected to grill him about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon and incidents from his past that have shaken but so far not derailed his nomination, including a 2017 complaint alleging he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California.

No charges were ever filed against Hegseth in the California incident.

In 2020, he paid the accuser as part of a nondisclosure agreement, Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, has told The Wall Street Journal.

The Senate Armed Services panel has 14 Republicans and 13 Democrats, so Hegseth can only lose a single Republican, if all Democrats oppose him, for the nomination to be voted favourably out of committee.

In the full Senate, Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage, so Hegseth can afford no more than three no GOP “no” votes, if Democrats unite against him.

The panel’s chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) has said he is impressed with Hegseth’s vision for the Pentagon, and that he felt the nominee had addressed the allegations against him.

But the top-ranking Democrat on the committee, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, said his concerns about Hegseth’s qualifications hadn’t been allayed. A meeting they had last week “raised more questions than answers”, Reed said.

Republicans said that it will be critical for the sometimes combative former Fox News host to remain composed under questioning.

“You’re going to get hammered,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.). “A tussle never wears well … What you’re trying to do is demonstrate – think about it, we’re talking about a cabinet-level position – is that you’re even keeled, measured.” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.), a member of the committee who has participated in practice sessions with Hegseth, said he doesn’t expect Hegseth to be prodded into losing his cool.

“That would be a bad thing,” Mullin said. “The guy’s been in combat. He was shot at. He’s heard the rounds crack over top of his head,” he said. “He’ll be composed and handle himself just fine.”

In private conversations ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Hegseth has said his priority is eliminating “wokeness” throughout the ranks, claiming the military has come to value diversity over lethality and readiness, according to former and current US officials who have spoken to him.

In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors” Hegseth named several Pentagon leaders whom he claimed were beneficiaries of an emphasis on diversity in promotions and said they should be fired, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the chief of Naval Operations. The Navy has declined to comment.

Hegseth already has softened some past positions, aiming to reassure senators. He backed away from statements that women in the military shouldn’t serve in combat roles, saying on Fox News last month that his comments were “misconstrued” and that some of the country’s “greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women who serve”.

Even if Hegseth avoids clashes with Democrats, he is likely to face pointed questioning, including from at least one Republican.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) has said Hegseth needs to address the role of women in the military, sexual-assault prevention and waste and abuse in the defence budget. With such a small Republican margin on the panel, her questions and eventual votes could be key to Hegseth’s future.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) makes a practice of asking defence nominees if they have ever made unwanted requests for sexual favours or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature. She also asks if they have faced discipline or reached legal settlements about such incidents.

Her office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other Democrats have said they intend to focus on what they see as the former Army major’s limited qualifications to lead an institution as large and complex as the Pentagon, which has a budget of nearly $1 trillion and more than three million employees.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) sent a 33-page letter to Hegseth last week, previewing 72 questions she had for him, citing the allegations of sexual misconduct, reports of inappropriate drinking, and claims by former co-workers that he mismanaged veterans organisations he led.

Hegseth has denied wrongdoing.

“I am deeply concerned by the many ways in which your past behaviour and rhetoric indicates that you are unfit to lead the Department of Defense,” Warren wrote.

A spokesman for the Trump transition didn’t reply to a request for comment on the issues likely to be raised at the hearing.

Hegseth has vowed privately not to consume alcohol as defence chief, senators who met with him said.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation background report on Hegseth was sent to the committee leadership last week, a congressional official said.

Hegseth needs to address the allegations against him head on and not let himself be drawn into dramatic conflict with Democrats that could go viral, Tillis said.

“Even though every once in a while you want to jump out of your skin … you’ve got to demonstrate poise, and you’ve got to demonstrate focus, and you’ve got to demonstrate resolve,” he said.

“They get confirmed if they do that. If they don’t, then they subject themselves to more headlines and stuff, more headlines, more distractions.”

-Wall Street Journal