The vibes around Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Defense Department have shifted during the last few days.
Buoyed by continued support from President-elect Donald Trump, the crisis atmosphere enveloping Hegseth’s nomination has cooled somewhat, although the former Army National Guard officer and Fox News host is still far from a sure thing for confirmation.
After the most prominent Senate GOP critic of Hegseth, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), signaled on Monday that she would not oppose his nomination, there’s a growing sense among Senate Republicans that Hegseth has survived a stunningly bad rollout period that threatened to completely derail his confirmation prospects.
Let’s be clear here — there’s no guarantee that Hegseth will be confirmed. Hegseth faces a potentially brutal public hearing with Democrats ready to tee off on him. Other damaging revelations beyond the devastating series of initial reports alleging sexual assault, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement could emerge. Even his own mother raised concerns about his treatment of women. And the woman who alleged Hegseth sexually assaulted her in 2017 could go public.
But there’s a sense that Hegseth isn’t stepping aside and Trump isn’t abandoning him. So the process will move forward.
“He’s doing exactly what he needs to do,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) of the 44-year-old Hegseth. “Pete is up here every day, he’s meeting with [senators], he’s answering the tough questions, he’s not running away from them. He’s facing it.”
More Mullin: “The idea isn’t to put yes’s on the board. It’s to keep no’s off the board.”
During an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday night, Hegseth accused Democrats and the media of trying to destroy his nomination using “smears,” “anonymous sources” and “flat-out lies.” GOP senators also have been using the “anonymous sources” line to rebut questions on the Hegseth allegations.
“The left is trying to turn this into a trial in the media, a show trial. We’re not going to let that happen,” Hegseth said. “I’m going to walk in the door of every one of these senators as an open book, willing to answer their questions because they deserve answers.”
Hegseth was accused in October 2017 of sexual assault, although no criminal charges were filed. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing. Hegseth later reached a financial settlement with the accuser to avoid a lawsuit.
Hegseth is scheduled to meet this week with two critically important Republicans for his nomination — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Their views on the DoD nominee will be very closely watched.
Here’s how Collins justified her meeting on Wednesday with Hegseth despite the allegations against him: “How else am I going to get a sense of him and ask him questions?”
The Maine Republican also said she would carefully review the FBI background report on Hegseth, as well as the nominee’s response to the questionnaire from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Collins is focused on how Hegseth handles his public questioning too.
Murkowski was more tightlipped about her Tuesday sitdown with Hegseth. She confirmed the meeting, and then said this about Hegseth: “Don’t you want to know who your accusers are?”
In addition, Hegseth will meet with GOP Sens. John Cornyn (Texas), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.) and Steve Daines (Mont.) today.
After widespread Senate GOP opposition sank former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) bid to be attorney general, Hegseth appeared to be next in line to get dumped. By late last week, the nomination was teetering on the brink of collapse, with rumors rampant on Capitol Hill that Trump would pull the plug on Hegseth and go with another nominee, possibly Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Yet Ernst’s about-face on Hegseth is a good encapsulation of the shifting in mood among Senate Republicans around this nomination.
On paper, Ernst appears to be a tough sell for Hegseth. Ernst is a survivor of sexual assault; Hegseth is accused of sexual assault, which he denies. Ernst served in Kuwait and Iraq during the Iraq war; Hegseth has been critical of women serving in combat roles.
But after meeting Hegseth on Monday, Ernst said she’d support him through the nomination process and praised Hegseth for taking the meetings seriously.
Here’s incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune: “[SASC] is going to do the process, and we’ll ensure that he gets a fair process and that he has the opportunity to make his case. And I think that’s kind of where things lie right now.”
Trump nominees’ schedule: Trump’s pick to serve as FBI director, Kash Patel, will meet with Mullin and GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) today.
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick to head up the Office of National Intelligence, will meet with GOP Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Jim Risch (Idaho). Cotton will chair the Senate Intelligence Committee next year, while Risch will oversee the Foreign Relations Committee. Gabbard faces questions over her interactions with toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — who has fled to Moscow — as well as her stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Former Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), who Trump wants to run the CIA, will meet with Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, on Wednesday. Other meetings include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Sens. Mike Rounds (S.D.) and James Lankford (Okla.).
