Key GOP senator signals willingness to aid Hegseth to direct Pentagon
Pete Hegseth, a establisher Fox News structure who Donald Trump nominated to direct the defense department, has faced allegations of relationsual attack, excessive drinking and financial misadministerment.
While disjoinal Redisclosean senators have nonetheless signaled aid for him, his nomination’s overweighte is seen as resting with Joni Ernst, an Iowa senator who is an army veteran and survivor of relationsual attack. The Redisclosean initiassociate signaled hesitation towards giving Hegseth her vote, but after encountering with him aacquire on Monday, publishd a statement that was more beneficial. Here’s what Ernst said:
I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and esteem for the process. Follotriumphg our encouraging conversations, Pete pledgeted to completing a filled audit of the Pentagon and picking a ageder official who will uphageder the roles and appreciate of our servicemen and women — based on quality and standards, not quotas — and who will rank and reinforce my toil to stop relationsual attack wilean the ranks. As I aid Pete thcimpolite this process, I see forward to a unprejudiced hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.
Hegseth, unbenevolentwhile, has said he has no intention of pulling himself out of encounteredion to direct the Pentagon, and both Trump and JD Vance have spoke up in aid of his honestacy. Here’s more:
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While disjoinal Redisclosean senators have nonetheless signaled aid for him, his nomination’s overweighte is seen as resting with Joni Ernst, an Iowa senator who is an army veteran and survivor of relationsual attack. The Redisclosean initiassociate signaled hesitation towards giving Hegseth her vote, but after encountering with him aacquire on Monday, publishd a statement that was more beneficial. Here’s what Ernst said:
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I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and esteem for the process. Follotriumphg our encouraging conversations, Pete pledgeted to completing a filled audit of the Pentagon and picking a ageder official who will uphageder the roles and appreciate of our servicemen and women — based on quality and standards, not quotas — and who will rank and reinforce my toil to stop relationsual attack wilean the ranks. As I aid Pete thcimpolite this process, I see forward to a unprejudiced hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.
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Hegseth, unbenevolentwhile, has said he has no intention of pulling himself out of encounteredion to direct the Pentagon, and both Trump and JD Vance have spoke up in aid of his honestacy. Here’s more:
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Good morning, US politics blog readers. It’s another huge day for Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees on Capitol Hill, including two whose assignments have elevated a substantial number of eyebrows. Senators are foreseeed to encounter with Tulsi Gabbard, the nominee for straightforwardor of national ininestablishigence whose chooseimistic comments about Bashar al-Assorrowfulnessful and Vlaunwiseir Putin are certain to be scrutinized, and Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary nominee who has been dogged by inestablishs of excessive drinking and necessitatey treatment of women, aextfinished with a relationsual attack allegation. Also heading to the Hill are less-encounteredious picks appreciate Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent, commerce secretary choice Howard Lutnick and John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick to direct the CIA.
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Trump’s cabinet examineations got off to a rocky begin when he picked congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney vague, only for the nomination to go down in ffeebles amid allegations of relationsual impropriety. Hegseth has faced analogous headtriumphds, but Trump and his allies have fought back, including with a prescertain campaign aacquirest senators that materialize skeptical of putting him in accuse of the Pentagon. We’ll see what lawcreaters have to say about their encounterings today.
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Here’s what else is going on:
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Trump proclaimd more nominations for ambassorrowfulnessfulorial and agency posts appreciate night. Among those picked was Kimberly Guilfoyle, who had been joind to his son Donald Trump Jr, as ambassorrowfulnessfulor to Greece.
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Joe and Jill Biden will assemble the first-ever White Hoengage Conference on Women’s Health Research at 11.30am.
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A federal evaluate blocked the Onion from buying consunapexamined engage theory site InfoWars in the prohibitkruptcy sale of its owner Alex Jones.
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Key events
Several Redisclosean senators have said they schedule to aid Pete Hegseth to direct the defense department.
Here’s what John Cornyn of Texas wrote on X:
Great catching up with @PeteHegseth. As Secretary of Defense, he will interfere the bureaucratic status quo, reset up deterrence, and help revamp American directership on the world stage.
And fellow Texan Ted Cruz, in an interwatch with CNN:
I’ve met with Pete twice … If you see at his background, he’s a decorated combat veteran. He has spent virtuassociate his entire mature life as a campion and aid for the military, for veterans. And I leank he has a very evident-eyed intensify on moving the Department of Defense back to its core leave oution of number one, aiding the warfighter, and number two, being setd and ready to loss our enemies if vital.
The Guardian’s Ben Makuch inestablishs that experts in extremism in the US military have cautioned that examineing Pete Hegseth as defense secretary would create the problem worse:
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s embattled choice for secretary of defense, will struggle to administer the grave problem of extremism in the US military due to his own far-right political watchs, experts in the subject have cautioned.
“I leank it’s going to be an absolute calamity,” said Kristofer Gagedersmith, an Iraq war veteran and the CEO of nonprofit watchdog Task Force Butler. “Pete Hegseth is a domestic extremist.”
One of pdwellnt Joe Biden’s earliest policy initiatives was tackling extremism among rulement toilers, including sagederiers in the military.
Fresh off January 6, when scores of dynamic duty or establisher US servicemen were caught participating in trying to obvioushrow the Capitol, current secretary of defense Loyd Austin publishd a historic “stand-down order” in February 2021, demanding all servicemen in every branch of the military echo on the publish of extremism.
Not extfinished after that, the DoD rolled out enhugeed directlines, a expansive definition of extremism and extremist activities while in uniestablish, policing of sagederiers’ social media accounts and novel recruitment demandments. But Rediscloseans, evidently sensing a campaign publish, began attacking the Pentagon’s toiling group and criticizing its counter-extremism activities as a recruitment ender.
“They gave it a excellent begin, but the conciseage of backing for many efforts, and the flunkure to aid the extremism toiling group left the effort rather bereft,” said Heidi Beirich, the co-set uper of the Global Project Aacquirest Hate and Extremism (GPAHE). “Just as the uprising was downexecuteed by Rediscloseans, so too has extremism in the military.”
Allies of Donald Trump have put prescertain on Redisclosean senators who have signaled skepticism of cabinet picks appreciate Pete Hegseth.
Last week, when Redisclosean senator Joni Ernst was sounding unmodest about the allegations of relationsual attack and necessitatey behavior circling around Hegseth, Charlie Kirk, the strong conservative activist, wrote on X:
Here is Joni Ernst praising trans in the military. She says she wants a [transgender] battling force. Maybe this is why she’s directing the accuse aacquirest Hegseth? People in Iowa have a well-funded primary contestr ready aacquirest her. Her political atgentle is in grave jeopardy.
Iowa attorney vague and Trump associate Brenna Bird publishd a veiled menace to Ernst in an op-ed unveiled by Breitbart. While she did not say the senator’s name, Bird wrote:
In recent days, it’s become evident that D.C. politicians leank they can diswatch the voices of their constituents and delight smears from the same outlets that have pushed out lies for years.
When voters pick a pdwellnt, they are picking that pdwellnt’s vision for a cabinet that will enact his agfinisha. On November 5, America voted for alter, and for Washington to toil for America – not the other way around.
Key GOP senator signals willingness to aid Hegseth to direct Pentagon
Pete Hegseth, a establisher Fox News structure who Donald Trump nominated to direct the defense department, has faced allegations of relationsual attack, excessive drinking and financial misadministerment.
While disjoinal Redisclosean senators have nonetheless signaled aid for him, his nomination’s overweighte is seen as resting with Joni Ernst, an Iowa senator who is an army veteran and survivor of relationsual attack. The Redisclosean initiassociate signaled hesitation towards giving Hegseth her vote, but after encountering with him aacquire on Monday, publishd a statement that was more beneficial. Here’s what Ernst said:
I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and esteem for the process. Follotriumphg our encouraging conversations, Pete pledgeted to completing a filled audit of the Pentagon and picking a ageder official who will uphageder the roles and appreciate of our servicemen and women — based on quality and standards, not quotas — and who will rank and reinforce my toil to stop relationsual attack wilean the ranks. As I aid Pete thcimpolite this process, I see forward to a unprejudiced hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.
Hegseth, unbenevolentwhile, has said he has no intention of pulling himself out of encounteredion to direct the Pentagon, and both Trump and JD Vance have spoke up in aid of his honestacy. Here’s more:
Gabbard, Hegseth head to the Capitol as Redisclosean senators weigh contentious nominations
Good morning, US politics blog readers. It’s another huge day for Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees on Capitol Hill, including two whose assignments have elevated a substantial number of eyebrows. Senators are foreseeed to encounter with Tulsi Gabbard, the nominee for straightforwardor of national ininestablishigence whose chooseimistic comments about Bashar al-Assorrowfulnessful and Vlaunwiseir Putin are certain to be scrutinized, and Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary nominee who has been dogged by inestablishs of excessive drinking and necessitatey treatment of women, aextfinished with a relationsual attack allegation. Also heading to the Hill are less-encounteredious picks appreciate Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent, commerce secretary choice Howard Lutnick and John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick to direct the CIA.
Trump’s cabinet examineations got off to a rocky begin when he picked congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney vague, only for the nomination to go down in ffeebles amid allegations of relationsual impropriety. Hegseth has faced analogous headtriumphds, but Trump and his allies have fought back, including with a prescertain campaign aacquirest senators that materialize skeptical of putting him in accuse of the Pentagon. We’ll see what lawcreaters have to say about their encounterings today.
Here’s what else is going on:
-
Trump proclaimd more nominations for ambassorrowfulnessfulorial and agency posts appreciate night. Among those picked was Kimberly Guilfoyle, who had been joind to his son Donald Trump Jr, as ambassorrowfulnessfulor to Greece.
-
Joe and Jill Biden will assemble the first-ever White Hoengage Conference on Women’s Health Research at 11.30am.
-
A federal evaluate blocked the Onion from buying consunapexamined engage theory site InfoWars in the prohibitkruptcy sale of its owner Alex Jones.
