Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) on Thursday struck an optimistic tone on President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth — a positive development given his reported skepticism.
“Pete Hegseth went a long way today, in my opinion, in getting my full support. But I want him to be able to answer, in front of everybody else, the questions that are there,” he told reporters.
Post-Hegseth meeting, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) praises DoD Sec nom but says "he's got more work to do."
— Ramsey Touchberry (@ramsberry1) December 5, 2024
"Pete Hegseth went a long way today, in my opinion, in getting my full support. But I want him to be able to answer, in front of everybody else, the questions that are there." pic.twitter.com/0deoPJgEvq
Rounds also said, “I really do see a path forward for him to be successful in being accepted by the Senate for this position, but he’s got more work to do… I think he’s capable of doing that and I think the open hearings will help,” according to CNN.
GOP Sen. Mike Rounds after meeting with Hegseth. “I really do see a path forward for him to be successful in being accepted by the Senate for this position, but he's got more work to do… I think he's capable of doing that and I think the open hearings will help.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 5, 2024
Rounds is one of 14 Republican senators who reportedly had concerns about Hegseth prior to his meeting with him.
Let me get this straight. These 14 active Republican Senators voted to confirm MERRICK GARLAND for AG. But have concerns about Hegseth? Says A LOT. Wow. pic.twitter.com/Hs3AHBI8qV
— Will Cain (@willcain) December 5, 2024
As is customary for cabinet nominees who are confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth is privately meeting with senators ahead of his confirmation hearing, which will likely be scheduled for next month.
Hegseth began meeting with senators last week, and has spent every day so far this week meeting with them.
Also over the last several weeks there has been barrage of hit pieces aimed at tanking Hegseth’s nomination, based on anonymously-sourced and unverified claims that date as far back as a decade. The latest smears have been that he has a drinking problem and mismanaged two organizations he led, but dozens who worked with Hegseth have come forward to dispute those allegations as lies and fabrications.
Nevertheless, the hit pieces have caused some Republican senators to withhold support for Hegseth and float other potential nominees.
However, in the past 48 hours, after Hegseth began fighting back in interviews and an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, and Trump reiterated his support for him, in addition to several dozen of conservative media figures coming out in force for him, more senators have come onboard with their support.
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