By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-05 17:07:32 | Updated at 2024-12-22 16:08:31
2 weeks ago
Donald Trump's embattled Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth told reporters he spoke with the president-elect Thursday morning, while an avalanche of accusations threaten to derail his nomination.
Hegseth was back on Capitol Hill for more one-on-one meetings with senators after media reports that he would meet with Trump, who has been blasting out a string of nominations from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
'I spoke to Trump this morning, just a few minutes ago. He supports us fully,' Hegseth said.
Asked if he'll meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago, he acknowledged that it was the president-elect calling the shots. 'If he wants a meeting we will have a meeting,' he said.
Trump is set to make his first public appearance in days at a Fox Nation awards ceremony on Long Island tonight.
A series of Republican senators have raised concerns about Hegseth's nomination. Two other nominations, one of Matt Gaetz to be attorney general and Chad Chronister to run the Drug Enforcement Agency, have imploded.
Now, with his nomination on the ropes, Hegseth is also under pressure to release a woman who accused him of rape from a 2017 from a nondisclosure agreement that accompanied a financial settlement that he paid.
Trump ally and Hegseth defender Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Wednesday night said Hegseth should not do so.
Embattleed Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth was back on Capitol Hill to make his case to senators
His home-state governor, Ron DeSantis, has been mentioned as a possible substitute in an arrangement that could land a plum post for Trump's daughter-in-law Lara.
'Absolutely not,' he told CNN's Jake Tapper. 'We know how many people sign nondisclosures just to eliminate something, not that they ever did anything wrong, and he was never, you know, never charged with anything.'
That came after he earlier scolded the host: 'These are anonymous accusations. If these people are credible, Jake, ask them to come on your show to explain these things.'
That prompted Tapper to turn the tables. 'Pete Hegseth paid her money and she signed a nondisclosure agreement, so she can't come on my show to talk about it. Do you think Pete should release her from the NDA so that I can ask her the questions that you want me to?' he asked the senator. Both noted that no charges were filed in the matter.
He boiled over at one point: 'How am I supposed to interview her and have her not be anonymous anymore if he won't release her from the nondisclosure agreement?'
Sources told The Hill there is a block of three 'hard noes' that includes Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Senators are loathe to provoke Trump's wrath by speaking against him publicly, but some are predicting he can't clear the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a Senate Armed Services Committee member who is herself a survival of sexual assault, is withholding judgment, while describing a positive one-on-one meeting with Hegseth.
'Well, I did have a very long, lengthy discussion with Pete yesterday and I do appreciate his service to the nation. I also am a combat veteran,' she said on Fox News.
'So we talked about a number of those issues and we will continue with the vetting process. I think that is incredibly important. So again, all I'm saying is we had a very frank and productive discussion and I know that we will continue to have conversations in the upcoming months,' she went on calling the hearing process 'critical.'
'I think for a number of our senators they want to make sure that any allegations have been cleared and that's why we have to have a very thorough vetting process,' she said.
Hegseth is back on Capitol Hill alongside his wife Jennifer
Hegseth vowed not to drink if he is confirmed to the Pentagon's top job after a deluge of negative stories highlighting his consumption
Trump began the transition by exacting a pledge from leadership on using recess appointments that go around Congress, but senators have been asserting their 'advise and consent' prerogative as the days go on.
An an illustration of how precarious the nomination has become, Hegseth has been telling senators he'll give up drinking and had his mom go on television to defend him.
Hegseth vowed not to drink if he is confirmed to the Pentagon's top job after a deluge of negative stories highlighting his consumption.
'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,' Hegseth said Wednesday on The Megyn Kelly Show.
His promise comes as lawmakers are skeptical of his qualifications to lead the Pentagon - the nation's largest employer with over 2 million under its purview and an $800 billion budget.
Hegeth's confirmation has become more difficult as a steady stream of negative reports have come out highlighting his alleged binge drinking and and questionable behavior around women.
Senators have even started floating possible replacements to DailyMail.com, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Joni Ernst, a former combat veteran.
One such report published by the New York Times Wednesday revealed emails from his mother, Penelope Hegseth, in which she calls her own son a habitual cheater and abuser of women, according to an email she sent to him following his second divorce in 2018.
She later said the email was sent out of anger and frustration, and she claims to have written a follow up shortly after apologizing.
Hegseth, 44, has also been accused of sexual assault and getting too intoxicated while on the job to the point of being forced out of a leadership role for a veterans group.
Another recent NBC News report claims 10 current and former Fox News staffers said they were concerned about his drinking and could smell alcohol on him 'as recently as last month.'
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer, as they walk through the basement of the Capitol. He met with various senators about his upcoming confirmation on Wednesday
Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst has also been reported as a possible defense secretary nomination should Hegseth fail to muster enough support
A report this week from the Wall Street Journal indicated that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also seriously being considered
Though many of the reports cite anonymous sources, something Republicans are quick to point out, they have added additional claims to the pile of materials the Senate must mull through ahead of Hegseth's confirmation.
Hegseth dove further into his drinking habits on Megyn Kelly's podcast, who is also a fellow former Fox host.
'What do guys do when they come back from war oftentimes? Have some beers. How do you deal with the demons you see on the battlefield? Sometimes it's with a bottle,' he expressed.
'Unfortunately, tragically, for too many guys it's with the bottle and then it's depression and then, even worse, suicide.'
'I found my chapters of purpose that pulled me out of that,' he said.
'I'm a very different person than I was 10 years ago,' Hegseth insisted, pointing to his wife Jennifer and his Christian faith.
Trump is seemingly standing by his pick, and Hegseth said that he has recently talked to him.
'He supports me. We talked,' Hegseth said of his conversation with Trump. 'He said, you go meet those senators and I've got your back.'
The father-of-seven also recalled to Kelly how Trump said: 'Pete, I've got your back. It's a fight, they're coming after you. Get after it.'
But as the headwinds facing Hegseth seem to be their strongest, some senators are talking about other possible candidates for the top Pentagon job.
Reports have indicated that Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, a retired Lieutenant Colonel who served for 23 years in the Iowa Army National Guard, could be on the shortlist to replace Hegseth should his nomination fall through.
Ernst touts herself as the first female combat veteran in the Senate on her website and she has worked to mitigate sexual assaults in the U.S. military.
Hegseth, on the other hand, has said that women don't belong in combat.
Joni Ernst while serving in the military before becoming the senator of Iowa
Ernst in 2003, before her overseas deployment. She was the commander of the 1168th Transportation Combat Support Company based in Red Oak, Iowa
After Ernst and Hegseth met on Wednesday, the Iowan put out a cryptic message summarizing their sit down.
'I appreciate Pete Hegseth's service to our country, something we both share,' she posted on X. 'Today, as part of the confirmation process, we had a frank and thorough conversation.'
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said on Wednesday 'of course' Ernst is qualified to be secretary of defense should Trump choose to nominate her, adding 'her own service in uniform' makes her eligible for the post.
However, the Missourian was quick to follow up that his comments about Ernst's qualifications were not an endorsement.
'You're not going to lure me into giving advice to the president,' he said with a smile.
He also noted that his planned meeting with Hegseth on Thursday had been canceled by the nominee's team.
He was not given an explanation for the sudden cancellation.
Though Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who attended meetings with Hegseth on Wednesday, said the cancellation was likely due to it being the 'fly out day' in the Senate - when the lawmakers flee back home.
When pressed on whether Ernst or Hegseth is more appropriate for the post, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma demurred.
'I will let the president pick his own team,' Lankford responded, not offering his thoughts whether his colleague from Iowa would be a better pick than Hegseth.
Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's team is also considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Pentagon's top job.
Sources familiar with Trump and DeSantis' thinking revealed that the president-elect spoke to the governor about the job this week.
If the job is offered DeSantis, he would take it, the outlet reports.
DeSantis served in the U.S. Navy from 2004 to 2010
Hegseth and wife Jennifer Rauchet walk hand-in-hand on Capitol Hill Tuesday as Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary met with senators ahead of the confirmation process next year
Meanwhile, many in the Senate are awaiting their own meetings with Hegseth to see if he can handle the full confirmation process.
The former Fox News host met early Wednesday morning with Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who next Congress will hold the influential role of Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, the job tasked with overseeing his nomination.
Their session was just one of several scheduled for this week and next as Hegseth makes his rounds with the 53 Republicans whose support he is seeking. He can only afford to lose three Republican votes.
Wicker indicated that the meeting went well, though he stopped short of sharing the details of their conversation.
'I don't see any obstacles that can't be overcome,' Wicker said about Hegseth's odds of getting confirmed, he also added that the former TV host should stay in the fight.
Wicker did say, though, that Hegseth would pledge to stop drinking if he is confirmed, which the senator said was 'a good idea.'
The allegations about Hegseth's drinking a treatment of women seemed to be of particular interest among the female lawmakers.
'I would like to hear from him about many of the allegations that you all have been reporting,' Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said of Hegseth.
She is the longest tenured Senate Republican woman and has a reputation of being a moderate, meaning the former Fox News host could face a tough battle swaying her.
'I have a meeting with Pete Hegseth on my schedule for next week to exploring his qualifications, his vision for the department and these new allegations against him,' Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis similarly said.
