GOP senators optimistic about Hegseth’s confirmation after meetings
Republicans senators projected optimism Thursday that Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s controversial pick to be the next Pentagon chief, will ultimately be confirmed, despite a 2017 sexual assault allegation against him.
Hegseth visited the Capitol alongside Vice President-elect JD Vance in a bid to help his confirmation process, meeting with Republican Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.), the incoming chair of the Armed Services Committee.
Wicker said the Army veteran and former Fox News host was in “pretty good shape” for his confirmation process, while Mullin said he believes Hegseth “can explain all the situations” and that he is “going to be just fine.”
Hegseth briefly spoke to reporters about the sexual assault claim, which was revealed last week, with new details emerging overnight Wednesday. He said “the matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared and that’s where I am going to leave it.”
The meetings come after it was revealed a California woman told police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her in 2017 after he took her phone and refused to let her leave a hotel room, according to a detailed, 22-page police report, released after a public records request.
Identified as Jane Doe, the woman was an organizer at the California Federation of Republican Women event, at which Hegseth was a keynote speaker, at the Hyatt Hotel in Monterey, where the alleged incident occurred between the night of Oct. 7 and Oct. 8 in 2017.
Doe, who was at a hotel bar drinking alcohol with co-workers, said she does not remember most of the night and believes she was drugged before being assaulted in a hotel room, the report says. Hegseth told police the encounter was consensual.
Republican senators have largely withheld judgement after news of the allegation emerged over the weekend, and they have largely rallied around him after the meetings on Thursday.
Hegseth wrapped up his meetings just minutes before former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced online that he was withdrawing as Trump’s attorney general nominee.
Barrasso, soon to be the Senate’s No. 2 ranking Republican, had what he described as an “excellent discussion” with Hegseth and called him a “strong nominee” to lead the Defense Department under Trump.
“Pete pledged that the Pentagon will focus on strength and hard power — not the current administration’s woke political agenda,” Barrasso said in a statement Thursday. “National security nominations have a history of quick confirmations in the Senate. I look forward to Pete’s hearing and a vote on the floor in January.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), one of Trump’s closest Senate allies, said he had no concerns about him as a nominee and thinks he would “do a great job” at the Pentagon.
And Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said the allegation against Hegseth shows that the Senate needs “to go through the confirmation process, and let Pete — and these other folks — let them answer this stuff, you know, give them their day.”
Asked if he was concerned about the details of the police report, Hawley said Hegseth “denies it, he says there’s been no wrongdoing. But let’s hear from him.”
Hawley shrugged when questioned if Hegseth should have disclosed the allegation to Trump.
Still, other senators, including Armed Services member Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), want a “discussion” with Hegseth after the sexual assault allegations came to light.
“Any time there are allegations, you want to make sure they are properly vetted, so we’ll have that discussion,” she told Politico earlier this week. Hegseth did not meet Ernst on Thursday.
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