Hegseth’s pledge not to drink while defense sec­re­tary com­forts some sen­a­tors

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Hegseth’s pledge not to drink while defense secretary comforts some senators

Pres­i­dent-elect Don­ald Trump‘s pick for Defense Sec­re­tary, Pete Hegseth, has made a key promise to sen­a­tors while on Capi­tol Hill try­ing to woo mem­bers of the upper cham­ber of Con­gress, say­ing he will not drink if con­firmed for the role.

While appear­ing on the Meg­yn Kel­ly Show, Hegseth ref­er­enced gen­er­al order one, which bans mil­i­tary per­son­nel from drink­ing alco­hol while deployed, and said he would view the role of defense sec­re­tary as being applic­a­ble to that rule.

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“That’s how I view this role as Sec­re­tary of Defense is, I’m not going to have a drink, at all. And it’s not hard for me because it’s not a prob­lem for me. But I need to make sure the sen­a­tors, the troops, Pres­i­dent Trump, and every­body else knows when you can call me 24/7, you’re get­ting ful­ly dialed in Pete – just like you always did in Iraq and Afghanistan, ” Hegseth said.

“So this is the biggest deploy­ment of my life and there won’t be a drop of alco­hol on my lips while I’m doing it,” he added.

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Con­cerns about Hegseth’s nom­i­na­tion have large­ly stemmed from alle­ga­tions of mis­con­duct and over his alleged past exces­sive drink­ing. He has denied alle­ga­tions that he mis­treat­ed women and told Kel­ly he has been the vic­tim of a “smear” as he seeks to lead the Depart­ment of Defense.

Hegseth also made this promise to mul­ti­ple sen­a­tors dur­ing pri­vate meet­ings on Capi­tol Hill Wednes­day.

Sen. Roger Wick­er (R‑MS) said that Hegseth made the vow not to drink if con­firmed by the Sen­ate, dur­ing their Wednes­day meet­ing. Wick­er told the Wash­ing­ton Exam­in­er he thinks that is “prob­a­bly a good idea.” Wick­er will be the chair­man of the Sen­ate Armed Ser­vices Com­mit­tee in Jan­u­ary.

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Hegseth has vowed to con­tin­ue his mis­sion to be con­firmed as the next defense sec­re­tary, but some alter­na­tive picks Trump could make if Hegseth fal­ters have been float­ed.

Gov. Ron DeSan­tis (R‑FL) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R‑IA) are among the report­ed alter­nate picks Trump could make to head the Depart­ment of Defense.