Jan. 13 (UPI) — Confirmation hearings get underway this week on Capitol Hill, as President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is scheduled to appear Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hegseth, an Army veteran and former Fox News correspondent, has spent the last several weeks meeting with Republican senators on Capitol Hill in an effort to gain support, as Democrats have accused him of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement at a veterans nonprofit organization. Hegseth has denied the allegations.
“I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing, not a press show trial based on anonymous accusations,” Hegseth wrote last month in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
“The press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down. It’s a textbook manufactured media takedown,” he added.
“They provide no evidence, no names and they ignore the legions of people who speak on my behalf. They need to create a bogeyman, because they believe I threaten their institutional insanity,” Hegseth said. “That is the only thing they are right about.”
As Hegseth picked up support last month from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Sen, John Boozman, R-Ark., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Democrats have criticized him for refusing to make himself available to lawmakers on the other side of the aisle.
Democrats are also accusing Hegseth of failing to provide key vetting materials for the confirmation process, including a less-than-thorough FBI background check that they claim was also submitted late.
Hegseth served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard with tours in Afghanistan, Iran and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He has been awarded two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantry Badge, and served as the chief executive officer of the veterans advocacy group Concerned Veterans for America, according to his website.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., relayed her “serious concerns” about Hegseth’s qualifications in a 33-page letter, where she asked him to respond to more than 70 questions about his background and past controversies.
“The Secretary of Defense is responsible for serving as head of the Department of Defense, with civilian authority over all matters related to the nation’s Armed Forces,” Warren wrote, adding that includes an annual budget of nearly $850 billion and nearly 3.4 million personnel.
“I have serious concerns about your qualifications to serve in this role given your past history, including mismanagement of two non-profit organizations you ran, accusations of sexual assault and drinking problems, your blatant disregard for the contributions of female service members, support for war crimes and torture and threats to politicize the military,” Warren claimed.
Given the ongoing controversy surrounding Trump’s defense chief pick, what is expected to be a contentious hearing for Hegseth is scheduled to begin Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. EST.
Other confirmation hearings this week include Trump’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. That is scheduled for Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Pam Bondi, Trump’s choice for attorney general, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and Thursday.
And Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Trump’s pick for secretary of state, is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
