Senate Democrats came into Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth hoping they could engineer a death blow to his nomination to lead the Pentagon.
While Democrats certainly landed plenty of punches, it quickly became clear that Hegseth had survived the most perilous stretch of his nearly two-month journey as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary.
The result? Hegseth appears to be on a glide path to Senate confirmation, possibly as soon as next week.
In short, Hegseth accomplished exactly what he needed to. He notched a key win when Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) officially backed his nomination following the hearing, all but ensuring he’ll make it through the Armed Services Committee on Monday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Hegseth “made a strong argument” for why he should get the job and vowed to move “quickly” to confirm the former Fox News host along with Trump’s other national security nominees.
Lee-Heinrich spat: Senate Energy Committee Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) rebuffed calls from the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Martin Heinrich (N.M.), to delay energy secretary nominee Chris Wright’s confirmation hearing, further escalating an intense clash inside the normally sleepy committee even before it’s officially met.
Heinrich wanted a postponement Tuesday because the panel didn’t yet have all of the requisite documents on Wright. Hours later, Lee said the committee received the documents. The Utah Republican said Democrats will have “more than sufficient time” to review them before voting on the nomination. Wright’s hearing will proceed as scheduled this morning.
In response, Heinrich said Lee’s suggestion was “absurd” and added this zinger: “It is especially rich coming from a Senator who has made a routine of singlehandedly delaying or killing countless bills in the Senate. Spare us the lecture.”
Also: Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the FBI, met Tuesday with Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.).
