The pick by President-elect Trump to lead the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, seems to be on track to get enough GOP Senate support to be confirmed, despite facing a handful of allegations ranging from sexual assault, excessive drinking and fund mismanagement, all of which he has denied.
One Republican senator told Fox News Digital that they weren’t aware of any GOP senators who are a “hard no” on confirming Hegseth.
Hegseth “certainly” doesn’t seem to be in a position where he may feel pressured to withdraw, they added.
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Pete Hegseth makes his way to a meeting with Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., in the Russell building on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)
This is much different than the landscape for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s previous selection to be attorney general, who faced several definitive “no” votes from senators.
Contending with the significant lack of support espoused most candidly behind closed doors, Gaetz withdrew from the process just days after being selected.
Republicans will have a 53-47 majority in the next Senate, and there is only room for Trump nominees to lose a few GOP votes, assuming no Democrats choose to back them.
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Gaetz withdrew himself from the confirmation process. (Reuters)
However, as the Republican senator conveyed, Hegseth doesn’t appear to have lost any Republicans in the upper chamber at this point, including more moderate lawmakers such as Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Hegseth met with both of them this week on Capitol Hill. According to Collins, “I had a good substantive discussion that lasted more than an hour.”
“We covered a wide range of topics ranging from defense procurement reforms to the role of women in the military, sexual assault in the military. Ukraine, NATO, a wide range of issues. I obviously always wait until we have an FBI background check and one is underway in the case of Mr. Hegseth, and I wait to see the committee hearing before reaching a final decision.”
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Collins met with Hegseth for a long period of time. (Mark Makela)
Murkowski refused to discuss her meeting with Hegseth, a former Fox News host, when asked by reporters.
Trump’s defense secretary choice has also met twice with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. After their first meeting earlier this month, Ernst admitted on Fox News that she wasn’t sold on Hegseth yet. But after their second meeting this week, she released a statement, saying, “As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.”
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Ernst and Hegseth met twice. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Ernst is notably the first female combat veteran ever elected to the Senate and also sits on the Armed Services Committee. She is additionally a survivor of sexual assault herself, which Hegseth has been accused of but denied.
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The changing tide, seemingly in favor of Hegseth’s confirmation, was articulated by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to reporters. “You can feel the difference this week versus last week,” he said.
“Kash [Patel] is not going to have an issue. Tulsi [Gabbard] is not going to have issue. People are going to ask the questions they should, but they’re going to get confirmed,” he added of other somewhat controversial Trump picks.
