Hegseth nudged the needle in his favor after another day of making the rounds on Capitol Hill to woo Republican senators. But, it was clear that major obstacles remained for the former Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran, with a series of past misconduct claims keeping his nomination in limbo.
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“Pete Hegseth went a long way today, in my opinion, in getting my full support,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R‑SD) said following a meeting. “But I want him to be able to answer, in front of everybody else, the questions that are there and do a good job on it.”
Rounds stopped short of giving Hegseth his full blessing, despite lauding him as someone with attractive qualities as a “warfighter” with “boots-on-the-ground experience” that could shake up the Pentagon.
“He’s got more work to do,” Rounds added. “I think he’s capable of doing that.”
Hegseth has denied all allegations, which include past sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse on the job, and financial mismanagement of veterans’ advocacy groups. None of the claims levied against him, made in a series of news stories, have featured named accusers. That includes a sexual encounter from 2017 with a woman that Hegseth said was consensual and was later part of a confidential settlement agreement. His pledge not to drink as defense secretary has brought comfort to senators.
“How do you — I mean, this crap that we’re putting up with, with people saying things anonymously,” Sen. Rick Scott (R‑FL), who also met with Hegseth Thursday and vehemently backs the nominee, told the Washington Examiner. “I don’t know what else you can say.”
Meanwhile, the list of people emerging as possible Hegseth alternatives has grown to include President-elect Donald Trump’s one-time primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R‑TX), and Sen. Joni Ernst (R‑IA).
Ernst, a rape and domestic abuse survivor, reiterated Hegseth had yet to earn her support. The two met privately Wednesday, with Ernst only going so far as to say the two engaged in a “very frank and thorough conversation.” Democrats, confident Hegseth is headed for defeat, have found themselves in rare agreement with some of their GOP colleagues that Ernst would present a smooth confirmation to the post.
“I think, for a number of our senators, they want to make sure that any allegations have been cleared,” Ernst said Thursday on Fox News. “That’s why we have to have a very thorough vetting process.”
Rounds, Ernst, and Scott sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold Hegseth’s confirmation hearing in January.
Republican senators who have met with Hegseth have advised him to address the claims against him more head-on in a public setting rather than exclusively with them in private. The move, lawmakers argue, would better prepare him for a public confirmation hearing.
However, Hegseth remained defiantly opposed to the PR tactic.
“I will continue to answer questions specifically to senators, who are the ones that deserve answers to every question they have,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “This will not be a process tried in the media. I don’t answer to anyone in this group, none of you, not to that camera at all.”
Hegseth spoke again on Thursday with Trump, who Hegseth said remained firmly committed to his nomination.
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Trump was set to accept the Fox News Patriot Award in New York City Thursday night, an event that will allow the president-elect to converse with many of Hegseth’s former colleagues.
“As long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight, I’m going to be standing right here in this fight, fighting to bring our Pentagon back to what it needs to be,” Hegseth said.