Seven Wild Moments From Hegseth’s Hearing

Pete Hegseth’s nomination hearing on Tuesday was expected to deliver fireworks — and it didn’t disappoint. While Republicans gave Hegseth the chance to push back against allegations ranging from sexual assault to drunkenness, Democrats homed in on Hegseth’s controversial past to argue he’s not qualified for the Pentagon’s top job.

Here were seven of the wildest moments from the hearing.

Dems hit back on sexual assault allegations

Sexual assault allegations that have dogged Hegseth's nomination didn’t come up in earnest until about an hour into the confirmation hearing. But they culminated in some of Hegseth’s most uncomfortable moments. He repeatedly said the 2017 accusation of sexual assault against him was a “false claim” and insisted any questions about whether such actions might disqualify a Defense nominee were “hypothetical.” That did little to stop an avalanche of questions from Democrats. Hegseth was never charged but paid a confidential financial settlement to his accuser.

Democrats launched into Hegseth for cheating on multiple wives, even as the former Fox News host maintained his innocence. “You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two, after you just had fathered a child by wife three,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said. “You've admitted that.”

And Kaine vented that Hegseth was not forthcoming about the allegations with the Trump team, either.

“Why didn't you inform the commander-in-chief and the transition team of this very relevant event?” Kaine asked.

Women in combat

Hegseth appeared to reverse his position on previous comments he made that women didn’t belong in combat roles. He told Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) that “women will have access to ground combat roles.”

That exchange marked the end of a dramatic two-month turnaround in Hegseth’s position. “It’s not about the capability of men and women, it’s about standards,” Hegseth told Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), referring to whether a service member can meet requirements such as carrying a gun or running with a rucksack. He noted military standards had been watered down but provided few examples, other than suggesting that some Army units had quotas for a certain number of female officers. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said that was an incorrect assertion.

Hegseth’s flip-flop didn’t impress Democrats on the committee. “You would have to change the way you view women to do this job well, and I don’t know if you are capable of that,” Gillibrand said.

Blowing off Democrats

The hearing started with both parties making nice. Then the pleasantries ended.

Several Democrats expressed frustration that Hegseth had ignored their meeting requests even though he had met with Republican senators.

“You haven't wanted to meet or to answer any of my questions, so we'll just have to do it here and dive in,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said.

Hegseth seemed unwilling to commit to further scrutiny, even though only the Senate Armed Service Committee leaders had seen his FBI background check. “I’m not in charge of the FBI background checks,” Hegseth told Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) also couldn’t get a commitment from Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) to extend the hearing to two rounds of questioning, which has been customary for past Defense chiefs.

Loyalty to God — and Trump

Jim Mattis and Lloyd Austin didn’t mention God much in their confirmation hearings for Defense Secretary. Hegseth brought up religion and — Trump — a lot.

“I will emphasize that President Trump received 77 million votes to be the lawful commander in chief,” Hegseth said when Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) tried to pin him down on whether he’d carry out orders to invade Greenland.

When Hirono interrupted, Hegseth responded with more praise for Trump. “One of the things that President Trump is so good at is never strategically tipping his hand,” he said.

And when Kaine raised questions about Hegseth’s past infidelity, Hegseth responded that his seven-year-old daughter born from that relationship is a “child of God.”

Members of the Democratic caucus saw the references as a diversion — including from Hegseth’s changing policy positions.

“You've made several references to your religion today,” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), citing the apostle Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. “You seem to have been converted over the last several weeks.”

Is inexperience a virtue?

Hegseth reinforced that his credentials were different from past Defense secretaries since he doesn’t have experience as a government executive. But he didn’t see that as a negative.

“I know I've never run an organization of three million people with a budget of $850 billion,” Hegseth told Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). “What I do know is that I've led men and women. I've led people.”

Hegseth argued that his lack of experience would allow him to speak directly to the military’s rank-and-file. Democratic senators said it meant he wasn’t up to the job.

“I don't believe that you can tell this committee or the people of America that you are qualified to lead them,” said Blumenthal. “I would support you as the spokesperson for the Pentagon.”

Illegal orders

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a former CIA officer and high-ranking Pentagon official, pushed Hegseth on Trump’s calls to use the military to invade Greenland and assist with mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

“Do you agree that there are some orders that can be given by the commander-in-chief that would violate the U.S. Constitution?” she asked.

Hegseth deferred. “I reject the premise that President Trump is going to be giving illegal orders,” he said.

Ernst, swing vote to strong backer

Ernst, a former soldier and sexual assault advocate, appeared a critical swing vote in December as Hegseth’s prospects teetered.

But Ernst seemed to shift her view by the hearing. She even entered a sympathetic statement into the congressional record from one of Hegseth’s successors at Concerned Veterans for America, the nonprofit he ran.

She ended with an easy question. Would Hegseth appoint a senior level official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response? The former Fox News host said he would.

The Pentagon already has such an office in place.