President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to drum up support from Republican senators, including Pete Hegseth, for his contentious choice to become defense secretary.
Hegseth faced major headwinds last week after fresh allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety and other disqualifying behavior surfaced. The New Yorker. ABC News has not independently confirmed the magazine’s report, and Hegseth has denied many of the allegations.
But some ground may be regained. On Monday, a key Republican senator appeared to soften his view of Hegseth.
Senator Joni Ernst, a member of the Armed Services Committee and a combat veteran like Hegseth, said before he was unwilling to protect Hegseth. But after their second meeting on Monday, he said he would “support him through this process,” though he would not say whether he would ultimately vote for his confirmation.
Hegseth said Tuesday that he would not speak for Ernst, but “I appreciate the time … amazing interviews, foreign affairs, combat vets, he welcomed all of his perspective,” Hart said as he moved between meetings in the Senate Office Building. while it was
Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth speaks to reporters with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 10, 2024.
Tierney L. Cross/Reuters
Political pressure has mounted on Republican lawmakers to back Trump’s Pentagon pick, as a conservative group with ties to Elon Musk is spending half a billion dollars on a new ad promoting Hegseth’s confirmation. The ad, urging viewers to call the senator and ask Hegseth to back down, will air on national television, but will also run online in Iowa — Ernst’s home state.
ABC reported last week that Trump was not calling Hegseth’s senators, as he did with Matt Gaetz, his first choice for attorney general. But since then, the president-elect has publicly backed Hegseth twice, once in a social media post and then in an interview on NBC that aired Sunday. Trump told “Meet the Press” that he still had confidence in Hegseth and that he “will do well.”
Then on Tuesday, the Trump team released a hype video For Hegseth he rallied friendly GOP senators praising him.
“Pete Hegseth is an exceptionally qualified, highly educated and fierce patriot who has not only served this country bravely, but also dedicated his life to defending our troops and veterans,” Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. . “Mr. Hegseth’s extensive military experience, along with his unwavering commitment to restoring greatness to the Pentagon and our armed forces, will advance President Trump’s vision to restore meritocracy, accountability and efficiency. United States the military.”
Multiple Republican senators said Tuesday they were seeing positive developments from Hegseth.
“Right now, he’s in pretty good shape. I think he’s very smart,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said last week after calling the reports about Hegseth “very troubling.”
“So allegations of mismanagement of money and unconscionable behavior. If they come forward, I will hear those allegations, but they have to be credible and presented in a way that Pete can refute. So that’s a lot. Better this week than last week.” said Graham.
Senator John Cornyn, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters after the meeting that he would support Hegseth in his confirmation.
“I’ll stand by Pete Hegseth, as I always say, barring any surprises. But I’ve known him for a long time. I was happy with his answers and I think it’s going to be a tough process for him and his family and some will be incredibly unfair, but I respect Fox- ‘s willingness to give up a good job to serve a large percentage of his life to the nation and the military,” Cornyn said.
Hegseth had a high-stakes appointment Tuesday evening to meet with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, another Republican considered vulnerable.
When asked by ABC News what he expected from the one-on-one with Murkowski, Hegseth said he was “looking forward to a big conversation.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth meets with Sen. John Cornyn on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 10, 2024.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
ABC News notify in advance Trump’s team focused on determining the fate of female GOP senators, whose fate could be determined given the party’s slim three-seat majority in the new Congress. Hegseth is also expected to meet with Senator Susan Collins on Wednesday.
Hegseth agreed to an FBI background check, and many Republican senators said they wanted to be part of the vetting process. He has also appeared to try to clean up his comments about women in the military.
Hegseth said before women should not be in combat roles. In an interview on Fox News on Monday, Hegseth said he wanted to “clarify” his position, but did not explicitly retract his position.
“I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misunderstood, that I somehow do not support women in the army,” she said. “Some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors are the women who serve, who raise their right hand to defend this country and love our nation, who want to defend that flag and who do it every day.”
Trump’s other picks on the Hill on Tuesday include Kash Patel, the president-elect’s FBI director, and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence.
Patel met with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who later expressed his support and told reporters he felt comfortable voting for him.
“If you’re going to clean up the FBI and focus on mission over politics, refocus on putting America first, doing their job, Kash is the perfect person to do that,” Mullin said.
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
