Here is the plain text result:
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defence secretary, cleared his first hurdle on the way to confirmation: a long – and at times tense – hearing before the Senate’s Armed Services Committee. For more than four hours on Tuesday, Hegseth faced questions about his ability to run the Defence Department, including its three million employees and $849bn (£695bn) budget. And although he was grilled by Democrats over accusations of sexual assault, infidelity and drinking in the workplace, he appears all but certain to be confirmed to the role after no Republicans came out against him.
This was underscored later on Tuesday when Joni Ernst, one Republican who had been seen as a potential roadblock to his nomination, said she would support him.
A ‘warrior ethos’ was emphasized by Hegseth from the very start of his testimony, he promised to return the focus of the Defence Department to the strength of America’s military. “Warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That’s it. That is my job,” he said in his opening statements. As the hearing continued, Hegseth was critical of policies he felt harmed the efficiency and “lethality” of the military, namely efforts aimed at racial and gender diversity. “This is not a time for equity,” he said, adding that he opposes quotas, which he claims hurt morale.
In what became an expectedly partisan hearing, Democrats repeatedly grilled Hegseth on his past statements suggesting women were not suited to serve in combat roles in the military. Questions along these lines from Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono and Elizabeth Warren provided some of the most heated moments of the morning. He spoke over Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, as she tried to point to comments about female service members stretching back years. “Mr Hegseth, I’m quoting you in a podcast: ‘Women shouldn’t be in combat at all’,” Warren said. Hegseth remained composed, responding by saying his concern was not women in combat, but simply maintaining “standards” in the military.
Hegseth, who at 44 would be the youngest defence secretary in decades, also answered questions about his preparedness to run the defence department, a sprawling agency. The former Fox News host described himself as a “change agent”, saying “it’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm.” Some Republicans deemed Hegseth’s lack of experience a strength. “I just want to say for all the talk of experience and not coming from the same cocktail parties that permanent Washington is used to, you are a breath of fresh air,” Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri, said.
A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Hegseth was an infantry platoon leader in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Hegseth, also a former Fox News TV host, has military experience in Afghanistan as well. Still, Democrats pressed Hegseth on his qualifications for the top military job. Reporting from US media found that Hegseth’s tenures at the helm of two non-profit veterans groups ended in financial disarray. Combat veteran Tammy Duckworth focused on whether Hegseth had ever supervised an audit. “Senator, in both of the organisations I ran, we were always completely fiscally responsible,” Hegseth began, before Duckworth cut in. “Yes or no? Did you lead an audit? Do you not know this answer?” Duckworth said.
Source link
