President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, appears to be on track to garner enough GOP Senate support to be confirmed, despite facing a number of allegations ranging from sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement, to name a few. he denied it.
One Republican senator told Fox News Digital they didn’t know of any GOP senators who were “not adamant” about confirming Hegseth.
Hegseth “definitely” does not appear to be in a position to feel pressure to withdraw, they added.
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Pete Hegseth attends a meeting with Sen. Ted Budd, RN.C., in the Russell building on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)
This is in stark contrast to the situation with former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s previous pick for attorney general, who faced few outright “no” votes from the administration.
Faced with a significant lack of support behind closed doors, Gaetz withdrew from the process just days after being elected.
Republicans will have a 53-47 majority in the next Senate, and there is only room for Trump’s nominees to lose a few GOP votes, assuming no Democrats choose to support them.
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Gaetz recused himself from the confirmation process. (Reuters)
However, as a Republican senator, Hegseth does not appear to have lost any Republicans in the upper chamber at this time, including 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 great conversation that lasted over an hour.”
“We’ve covered a lot of topics from defense procurement reform to the role of women in the military, sexual harassment in the military. Ukraine, NATO, a lot of issues. Obviously I’m always waiting until we do an FBI background check and one is going on in Mr. Hegseth’s case, and I’m waiting to see the hearing committee before I reach a final decision.”
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Collins met Hegseth for a long time. (Mark Makela)
Murkowski declined to discuss his meeting with Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor, when asked by reporters.
Trump’s choice for secretary of defense has met twice with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. After their first meeting earlier this month, Ernst admitted to Fox News that he still wasn’t sold on Hegseth. But after their second meeting this week, he released a statement, saying, “As I support Pete in this process, I look forward to a proper hearing based on the truth, not anonymous sources.”
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Ernst and Hegseth met twice. (Drew Anger/Getty Images)
Ernst is the first female veteran ever to be elected to the Senate and serves on the Armed Services Committee. He also survived sexual assault, which Hegseth was accused of but denied.
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The change of tide, which seems to agree with the confirmation of Hegseth, was mentioned by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to reporters. “You can feel the difference this week compared to last week,” he said.
“Alas [Patel] he will have no problem. Thulsi [Gabbard] there will be no problem. People will ask the questions they have to ask, but they will be reassured,” he added in other anti-Trump ways.
