U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, expressed support for Pete Hegseth on Tuesday as a contentious confirmation hearing was underway in the Senate for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense.
The Senate Armed Services Committee wrapped up the hearing of more than four hours without a vote, and Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, gave no indication of when the panel would reconvene.
“Pete Hegseth’s extensive service to our nation makes him uniquely qualified to serve as Defense Secretary,” Lummis posted on X mid-morning Tuesday. “We need to build a U.S. military the American people can be proud of, and Pete Hegseth will be the one to do it.”
Neither Lummis nor Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyoming,are on the Armed Services Committee but would vote in the full Senate if Hegseth’s nomination clears the panel. Barrasso has expressed support for Hegseth on TV and social media.
Barrasso has maintained that Trump’s nominees need to be confirmed as quickly as possible, pledging support for Hegseth and all of the president-elect’s nominations.
Grilled
Committee Democrats grilled Hegseth on his personal character as well as his management skills, calling him unfit to run the Pentagon and oversee its roughly $850 billion annual budget.
Republicans praised the Army veteran as a strong leader who would get rid of DEI and other military policies they called woke.
“I’m not a perfect person,” Hegseth said in his opening statement, and at several points said he is a redeemed Christian.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, contrasted Hegseth’s “warrior ethos” with “weakness and wokeness” under President Joe Biden.
He and other Republicans said potential military recruits have been turned off by Biden-era policies.
“They’re tired of this. They’re tired of woke ideology,” said Schmitt, speaking next to a pasteboard display titled “DEI in Our Military.”
Citing that graphic, Schmitt said the Air Force Academy discourages use of the term “mom and dad.”
“That’s insane. I don’t know how we got here,” Schmitt said. “And people wonder why recruiting has dropped off.”
The Military
Schmitt also blasted the Biden administration for discharging service members who refused the vaccine during the “COVID hysteria.”
The senator secured a pledge from Hegseth to restore their rank and give them back pay if he is confirmed.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, likewise complained that the military culture under Biden has sapped the morale of potential recruits.
“We’re in trouble. Our whole country’s in trouble,” he said. “Thank God President Trump got elected November the 5th.”
His Character
Democrats took turns attacking Hegseth on issues including his drinking, marital infidelity, an alleged sexual assault he has denied, and purported financial mismanagement of two nonprofit veteran-support organizations.
Several Democrats also complained he refused to meet with them privately before the hearing.
“You’re not qualified, Mr. Hegseth,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, a veteran herself, who appeared to be exasperated at the hearing.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, asked Hegseth for “true or false” answers to a number of specific claims involving excessive drinking. Hegseth most often responded “anonymous smears,” though he did explicitly deny one incident Kelly cited.
While admitting to overcoming challenges, Hegseth was not being forthright as to questions about those challenges, Kelly said.
“It’s clear … you are not being honest with us, because you know the truth would disqualify you for getting the job,” he said.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Defense secretary, testifies Tuesday for the Senate Armed Services Committe. Here he's introduced by Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Florida, left, and with Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota, right. (Getty Images) 
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Defense secretary, testifies Tuesday for the Senate Armed Services Committe. (Getty Images)
Women In Combat
A hallmark of the hearing was Hegseth’s repeated insistence on high standards for service members.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, asked Hegseth whether he favored allowing women in combat as long as they met those standards — and the nominee responded in the affirmative.
But on that issue, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, pounced on past statements from Hegseth in the media — statements which she characterized as Hegseth’s outright opposition to women in combat.
Warren said one such statement was made 32 days before the hearing.
“What changed in the 32 days?” Warren said. “I’ve heard of deathbed conversions. But this is the first time I’ve heard of a nomination conversion.”
‘She-He’
Some questions from lawmakers of both parties dealt with technology, Navy shipbuilding and the Russia-Ukraine war.
But some of the most memorable moments involved culture-war questions, including one from Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Montana.
He asked Hegseth: “How many genders are there? Tough one.”
Hegseth replied: “Tim, there are two genders.”
Sheehy then invoked the pronunciation of his own name, noting it sounds like “she-he.”
“I know that well,” he replied to Hegseth. “I’m a Sheehy, so I’m on board.”
