Hegseth tries to sal­vage Cab­i­net nom­i­na­tion as mis­con­duct alle­ga­tions pile up

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Hegseth tries to salvage Cabinet nomination as misconduct allegations pile up

Pete Hegseth will sit for a series of high-stakes meet­ings at the Capi­tol on Wednes­day as he attempts to resus­ci­tate his flag­ging nom­i­na­tion for Pres­i­dent-elect Don­ald Trump‘s defense sec­re­tary.

Hegseth is vow­ing not to with­draw his name as he faces alle­ga­tions of sex­u­al mis­con­duct and drunk­en behav­ior at work, each of which he denied. He will meet with at least three sen­a­tors crit­i­cal in the con­fir­ma­tion process Wednes­day, includ­ing incom­ing Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader John Thune (R‑SD).

“Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fight­er. I’m here for the fight­ers,” he told CBS News as he arrived on Capi­tol Hill, adding that Trump per­son­al­ly told him to “keep going.”

Sen­ate Repub­li­cans ini­tial­ly sig­naled that Hegseth, a long­time Fox News host, had a path to con­fir­ma­tion, down­play­ing a 2017 police report that alleged he com­mit­ted sex­u­al assault at a GOP event in Cal­i­for­nia.

Hegseth main­tains the encounter was con­sen­su­al.

How­ev­er, his nom­i­na­tion is far more pre­car­i­ous today. In the last 72 hours, he has been forced to nav­i­gate a series of news reports that com­pound the sex­u­al assault alle­ga­tion, par­tic­u­lar­ly a new­ly sur­faced email from his moth­er in which she called him an “abuser of women.”

Sep­a­rate­ly, NBC News report­ed Tues­day that Hegseth’s col­leagues at Fox News were con­cerned about his drink­ing habits.

Hegseth’s moth­er, Pene­lope Hegseth, appeared Wednes­day morn­ing on Fox News to make a direct appeal to the sen­a­tors who will decide the fate of her son’s nom­i­na­tion. She has expressed regret over the email sent dur­ing his 2018 divorce and has apol­o­gized to her son.

“I just hope peo­ple will get to know who Pete is today, espe­cial­ly our dear female sen­a­tors,” she said, call­ing her son a “changed” man.

“I real­ly hope that you will not lis­ten to the media and that you will lis­ten to Pete,” she added.

Pete Hegseth, too, is expect­ed to appear Wednes­day on Fox News. He left the Capi­tol after meet­ing with Sen. Roger Wick­er (R‑MS), the incom­ing chair­man of the Sen­ate Armed Ser­vices Com­mit­tee, for the sec­ond time.

Lat­er, Pete Hegseth will meet with Sen. Joni Ernst (R‑IA), a vet­er­an and sur­vivor of sex­u­al assault. She is among a num­ber of pos­si­ble replace­ments for Pete Hegseth should his nom­i­na­tion fall through.

Pete Hegseth, Pres­i­dent-elect Don­ald Trump’s nom­i­nee for defense sec­re­tary, is joined by his wife, Jen­nifer Rauchet, left, as they arrive to meet with Sen. Ted Budd (R‑NC), a mem­ber of the Sen­ate Armed Ser­vices Com­mit­tee, at the Capi­tol in Wash­ing­ton, Tues­day, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Apple­white)

Repub­li­cans have said they will give Pete Hegseth the ben­e­fit of the doubt as he makes his rounds on Capi­tol Hill. Thune told reporters Wednes­day, “He’s going to have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to address all the ques­tions that have been raised.”

How­ev­er, Pete Hegseth is weath­er­ing a deep well of Repub­li­can resis­tance to his nom­i­na­tion. In a cham­ber they will con­trol by three votes next year, even a few “no” votes could doom his prospects.

“There are hard ques­tions being raised, so he’ll have to answer those,” Thune added. “And my assump­tion is through­out the process, he’ll get that oppor­tu­ni­ty.”

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Already, for­mer Flori­da Rep. Matt Gaetz has been forced to with­draw his nom­i­na­tion as Trump’s attor­ney gen­er­al in the face of sim­i­lar oppo­si­tion.

The nom­i­na­tions of two oth­er Cab­i­net picks, for­mer Demo­c­ra­t­ic Hawaii Rep. Tul­si Gab­bard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are also con­sid­ered to be in jeop­ardy.

Ram­sey Touch­ber­ry con­tributed to this report.