Republicans rally around Hegseth at hearing, setting him up for confirmation

Republican senators uniformly rallied around Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, during his Tuesday confirmation hearing – a sign that he’s on a likely glide path to confirmation, just one month after his nomination appeared to be in serious jeopardy.

In the four-hour hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democrats raised sharp questions about the former Fox News host’s qualifications, his personal conduct, and his views on women in the military. Republicans, on the other hand, expressed strong support for his years of military service and his outspoken opposition to what he described as the Biden administration’s fight to prioritize diversity over lethality in the military. Not a single Republican on the committee indicated that they were likely to oppose Mr. Hegseth, suggesting that he’ll win confirmation in the GOP-controlled Senate, where he can lose no more than three Republican senators.

The hearing’s most telling moment came when GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa offered him a chance to clarify his previous statements criticizing women serving in combat roles. Senator Ernst, an Army veteran who had been blocked by military policy from serving in a combat role because of her gender, had expressed concerns about Mr. Hegseth’s nomination, both over that issue as well as concerns about his personal conduct. But she appeared to have had a change of heart after a private meeting in which Mr. Hegseth promised her that he would support women in combat roles, amid a concerted pressure campaign from Trump allies to back him or face a Trump-backed primary opponent.

On Tuesday, she used her time not to grill Mr. Hegseth but to allow him to publicly commit to a position that women will still be allowed to serve in combat roles, so long as they meet the same physical qualifications as male troops.

“Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles – given the standards remain high,” Mr. Hegseth said. Seemingly mollified, Senator Ernst spent much of her time focused on her agreement with Mr. Hegseth that the Pentagon needed to undergo an audit. (More Monitor coverage: High stakes for women fighting for respect and justice within the military.)

The hearing marks the conclusion of a remarkable about-face for many wavering Republicans. Just a month ago, it appeared that the military veteran and Fox News host would be sunk by reports that he had been publicly intoxicated at different jobs he held after leaving the military, past marital infidelities, and a 2017 allegation of sexual assault (he has repeatedly denied the accusation, but paid a confidential financial settlement to his accuser to keep the incident quiet).

Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation prospects looked so dicey at one point that Mr. Trump reportedly discussed replacing him with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But now, it looks like he’ll be able to win enough votes to be confirmed in the GOP-controlled Senate.

During the hearing, Democrats pushed hard on Mr. Hegseth’s personal history and past public remarks on women in combat.

Multiple senators asked him about repeated comments he made over the span of a decade that women shouldn’t serve in combat roles. That includes an unequivocal remark made on a conservative podcast just last summer that “Women shouldn’t be in combat at all.”

Mr. Hegseth repeatedly refused to admit his position had shifted but reiterated that he now supported women in combat roles so long as they could meet the physical requirements.

He dodged Democrats’ other questions throughout the hearing, including whether he’d obey a directive from the president to order troops to fire on protesters. He refused to say whether Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who served during President-elect Trump’s first term, was right to apologize for using troops to clear out unarmed protesters from in front of the White House. He repeatedly refused to answer questions from Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan about whether he’d personally been involved in discussions of using the active duty military inside the United States, or whether he’d allow soldiers to be used at detention camps to deport unauthorized immigrants.

Democrats complained that Mr. Hegseth broke with longstanding norms by refusing to meet with any of them before the hearing. They were also frustrated that his FBI background check was only shared with the committee’s chairman and ranking member, only came in a few days ago, and wasn’t more thorough – it didn’t include interviews with his sexual-assault accuser or one of his ex-wives. And they expressed frustration that they were limited to one round of questioning, unlike at some previous confirmation hearings.