Drunkenness, Women and Wokeness: A Dramatic Confirmation Hearing for Pete Hegseth

from The New York Times I'm Michael. babbaro this is the. [Music]. daily on Tuesday the confirmation. process for Donald Trump's cabinet began. with his most controversial Choice Pete. Heth for Secretary of Defense today my. colleague National Security. correspondent Eric Schmidt on the.

contentious and dramatic hearing and the. odds that hegf will soon be running the. military it's Wednesday January. [Music]. 15th Eric from the moment that Pete heg. was nominated to run the Department of. Defense it as you well know created a. storm of controversy on both sides of. the aisle because of the reports of his. personal misconduct because of his views. on issues like whether women should be.

in the military and because of his lack. of traditional management experience. everything about him represented a major. deviation from the norm of who the. secretary of defense is so much so that. it looked like Donald Trump might dump. him as his choice but that hasn't. happened so heading into this. confirmation hearing what for you were. the big questions about how this very. highly anticipated day would. unfold well I think you said it's just.

amazing how unconventional Pete hex's. nomination is I mean when his nomination. was announced we all kind of scratched. our heads and went you mean the Fox News. anchor that guy right and you know as it. turned out you know he did have a record. he had run a couple veterans groups and. then some of the allegations started. seeping out about his misconduct the. times Unearthed a letter from his mother. in 2018 saying he he treats women Terri.

his mom later said that she wrote that. letter in anger but. still uh then we learned about an. alleged sexual assault in 2017 right so. these things are starting to pile up and. then we talk to former colleagues of his. who talk about allegations of public. drunkenness I mean any one of these. things you know would have been enough. to syn a nominee in another time but not. Pete Heth right so go into the hearing I.

think there were really three major. questions about how it would unfold the. first would be what did the Democrats do. do they recognize is a foregone. conclusion and basically meet Pete Heth. on his own terms or do they go to war. with. him the second for. Republicans do they acknowledge any. misgivings at all about Pete heth's. conduct his Fitness for the job his.

experience anything at all that would. appear to give a crack in their support. for him or do they just fall in line and. then the third question is how would. Pete hegi carry himself right again. remember this is the fire brand Fox news. commentator he's used to being on. television and really being hard edged. in the magga world or do we see a. different version of him where he's kind. of buttoned up the Princeton grad and. ready to play nice with Democrats and.

maybe soften some of their opposition. you know which which Pete Heth shows up. in what form and how does he present. himself in this hearing right the. Firebrand or the charmer right or some. combination so given those three big. questions going into this hearing take. us into the actual confirmation hearing. itself as you tried to figure out which. way it was going to go for each of those. three constituents Republicans Democrats.

and hex himself so the hearing starts at. 9:30 on Tuesday morning and this is the. Senate armed services committee and and. their job is basically to recommend or. not for all their Senate colleagues you. know how should they vote on this guy. again remember Republicans are in. control as of the last election but. there's a very narrow margin and it's. still a question of whether the. Republicans will hold. together so hex takes his seat in front.

of the Das and he looks like kind of. like you would see him on television. he's sporting a a navy blue suit with a. red tie an American flag pocket square. and his wife and several other women. including Megan Kelly are sitting right. behind him in. support good morning the hearing will. come to. order Roger wicker of Mississippi is the. chairman he starts with an opening. statement admitted.

this nomination is unconventional the. nominee is. unconventional just like that New York. developer who wrode down the escalator. in 2015 to announce his candidacy for. president that may be what makes Mr hegi. an excellent choice to improve signals. unaccept pretty much from his opening. statement the Republicans are going to. be a heat shield for for Pete Heth in. this hearings he is a decorated post 911.

combat veteran he will inject a new. Warrior ethos into the Pentagon a spirit. that can Cascade from the top down Mr. hexi will bring energy and fresh ideas. to shake up the bureaucracy he you know. the Biden Administration has weakened. the American. Military the American Service members. are worn out recruiting is in the tank. it's just you know we need a jolt here. in short I'm confident that Mr hexi.

supported by a team of experienced top. officials will get the job done and so. this very quickly from the chairman of. the committee uh makes it sound you know. there's not going to be any doubts. raised from his side of the aisle here. at least right and given that original. question you posed it now seems that. Republicans will not be acknowledging. any misgivings about PX that they had. early on that's right I mean there are. no reservation it's all It's Full Speed.

Ahead Mr Heth uh I welcome you and your. family to today's hearing and I'm also. and then we get our first statement from. the senior Democrat on the committee. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island who's. been on the committee for years uh is a. West Point graduate Army veteran himself. and he actually starts out with some Nic. cities Mr exit I want to begin by saying. that I respect and appreciate your. military service in the Yami National.

Guard I know from experience that there. is no greater privilege than to lead. American soldiers and I thank you for. answering the call but then nominated to. Reed who's a relatively softspoken guy. not you know not bombastic of all the. secretary is expected to be a fair. nonpartisan and responsible leader as. well as a trustworthy advocate for the. men and women that he leads Mr heg said. I do not believe that you are qualified. to meet the overwhelming demands of this.

job we must acknowledge the concerning. public reports against you he just. launches into this extraordinarily harsh. assessment of Pete hex's. qualifications a variety of sources. including your own writings implicate. you with disregarding the laws of war. Financial mismanagement racist and. sexist remarks about men and women in. uniform alcohol abuse sexual assault. sexual harassment and other troubling.

issues it's as. thorough a public. disqualification a kind of dismissal as. I think I've ever seen in I don't know. the 10 or 15 years I've ever watched a. congressional hearing it's a senior. member of one of these committees. basically saying I don't even know why. you are in front of me it's a total. takedown Mr hexad you are the ninth. nominee for secret defense that have had. the honor cons as a member of the Senate.

armed services committee I have voted in. favor of all your predecessors including. those in the first Trump Administration. unfortunately you lack the character and. composure and competence to hold the. position of secretary defense thank. you and of course Heath is sitting. across from Senator. Reed at this point his jaw looks really. tense and then suddenly and I was. watching this alongside of you it's his. turn to finally speak with what is he.

saying well thank you chairman wicker. ranking member Reed and all the members. of this committee for this opportunity. today again remember this guy is a. television personality so he's he's on. now the light is on for him to speak and. he starts off you know quite. deliberately trying to disarm the. Senators should I be confirmed I look. forward to working with this committee. senators from both parties to secure our. nation saying this is going to be former. Senator a hearing where he's looking out.

for the best of the nation he's going to. work across the aisle as much as he can. thank you to my incredible wife Jennifer. who has changed my life and been with me. throughout this entire process he turns. and he thanks his wife for her support. including our seven wonderful kids gunar. Jackson he tries to name his seven kids. Luke Jack Rex sorry it's a lot of them. and forgets one of the names which draws.

kind of a laugh right I mean who Among. Us seven kids yeah who among us and then. something dramatic happens inside the. hearing room you are a misogynist not. only that you are hecklers uh start. screaming you know and protest of hex. set's. nomination and the capital police rush. over and basically hustle this guy out I. want to thank the authorities for their. uh Swift. reaction to that Outburst in and hex.

tries to get going again he tries to. kind of regain his momentum with this. morality meritocracy War fighting. accountability and. [Music]. Readiness and then another Heckler jumps. up and starts screaming at something. else you make continue sir returning the. P so it's very disruptive initially the. department of Defense under Donald Trump.

will achieve peace through strength and. this is all at a time when you know Peak. hex is trying to talk about how he's. going to transform the woke military. that has sunk to new lows into this you. know new dep Department of Warriors. unlike the current Administration. politics should play no part in military. matters we are not Republicans we are. not Democrats we are American warriors. our standards will be high and they will.

be equal not Equitable that's a very. different word and so how do you how do. you get that powerful military you do. that by focusing on the mission of the. military the building up of of military. might and not being distracted by what. Republicans say Democrats have spent too. much time on it of of Dei policies and. Progressive politics and getting away.

from basic tenants of military. Effectiveness what if anything does hex. say in this opening statement about the. questions that have come up around his. resume well interestingly enough now it. is true and has been acknowledged that I. don't have a similar biography to. defense secretaries of the last 30 years. you know he he openly acknowledges he's. not your usual defense secretary but as. president Trump also told me we've. repeatedly placed people at top the. pentagon with supposedly the right.

credentials whether they are retired. generals academics or defense contractor. Executives and where has it gotten us he. believes and I humbly agree that it's. time to give someone with dust on his. boots the helm a change agent someone. with no and what he says is you know I'm. bringing a new Fresh Approach to this. America thank you for the time and I. look forward to your questions thank you. very much Mr he so by this point the.

table has been set and we have the. Republican chairman basically saying we. are going to offer our complete. undiluted Unapologetic support for hex. as defense secretary the ranking. Democrat is determined to try to. disqualify him in the eyes of the public. and Heth is proudly and pretty. diplomatically and cleverly embracing. the role of the change.

agent that's. right and remember this is just the. introduction to this hearing right uh. and the real fireworks are yet to come. because the the question and answers. that's going to go on for hours with the. Democrats and Republicans lining up the. partisan lines have been thrown down on. both sides and that's where the drama is. really going to unfold in this hearing.

we'll be right. [Music]. back so Eric talk about the fireworks. portion of this hearing the questioning. of Heth from senators of both parties so. one of the big topics that came up. particularly from Democrats who launched. into hexes comments and what he's. written about women in the military and. in the weeks leading up to this hearing.

he's tried to walk some of those. comments back the Democrats haven't had. a chance to really talk this thing. through and this is their first time to. really confront him with what he's. actually said and written on this good. morning Mr heg good morning Senator Jean. shaheim for instance the senator. Democratic senator from New Hampshire. was one of several female Democrat. Senators who took hexon as recently as. November the 7th of 2024 on the Sha Ryan. show um you said and I quote I'm.

straight up saying that we should not. have women in combat roles it hasn't. made us more effective and Shaheen among. others really launches in some really. tough questioning Mr hex should we take. it to believe that you believe that the. two women on this committee who have. served honorably and with distinction. made our military less effective and. less capable this was something that. other Democratic senators including. Kirsten Gill brand of New York Al picked. on we have hundreds hundreds of women.

who are currently in the Infantry lethal. members of our military serving in the. Infantry and basically saying wait a. minute here we already have women who. are serving in the military and serving. in some of these combat positions in the. Infantry and ground combat roles so. please explain these types of statements. cuz they're brutal and they're mean and. they disrespect men and women who are. willing to Die For This country you will.

have to change how you see women to do. this job well and I don't know if you. are capable of that so I want to pray. and you've got other Senators Senator. Elizabeth Warren says well wait a minute. you've had these kind of vague. pronouncements of uh how women are so. great in the. military after your last public comments. saying that women absolutely should not. be in Comet you decare that quote some. of our greatest warriors are women. it seems like you you've had this.

conversion and you're trying to sand the. the hard edges off your Myriad public. comments about this what extraordinary. event happened in that 32-day period. that made you change the core values you. had expressed for the preceding 12 years. in response to all this heith basically. says yes ma'am women in our military as.

I have said publicly have and continue. to make amazing contributions across all. aspects of our Battlefield women. obviously play a very important role in. the military but he doesn't really. address some of the most uh extreme. things that he's written and said in the. past but just saying when I'm talking. about that issue it's not about the. capabilities of men and women it's about. standards we have to have a. standards-based. military again going back to his theme.

about focusing on the warrior ethos and. not some of the Dei characteristics of. the current Administration standards. what that we unfortunately over time. have seen eroded in certain certain Duty. positions certain schools certain places. which affects Readiness which is what I. care about the most Readiness and what. exactly does he mean when he's using. that word standard it sounds like he is. suggesting that during a democratic.

administration of Joe Biden that those. standards got lowered but he doesn't. quite come out and say it but is that. what he's implying that's what he's. implying he's basically saying that in. order to accommodate whether it's gender. politics or other politics within the. military you've lowered the standards. the effectiveness standards of your. basic soldiers here uh and that's just. not the case the most elite units have'. got a specific test that both men and. women who serve in those units have to.

pass it's not you it's not like there's. a test for women and test for men in. these in these elite units and to say. you know that the standards have been. you know warped under this current. Administration to serve their. Progressive politics that's not right. and this is what some of these. Democratic senators are saying saying. wait a minute now you know they're. calling them on it these are the. requirements today for people serving in. the industry men and women they are. gender neutral and. are very difficult to meet they have not.

been reduced so that was the Democrats. but what was perhaps the most. interesting and one of the most awaited. parts of this hearing was the support. that hex seemed to get from Republican. senator Joanie Ernst uh good morning Mr. Heth and thank you very much um I. appreciate your service to our nation he. is a combat veteran and also a sexual. assault Survivor somebody who is seen as. a pivotal figure in these hearings um.

you and I have had many productive. conversations and just uh for our. audience um we have had very Frank. conversations is that correct Mr heg. Senator that is a correct. characterization you know that I don't. right and she had seemed to be against. his nomination in the beginning and then. slowly began to express support for him. after several me and so where we meet.

her on Tuesday is that she seems to be. in his Camp that's right I do believe in. high standards where they do seem to. kind of come together now is this. question of standards for the young. women that are out there now and can. meet those standards they must. physically be able to achieve those. standards so that they can complete. their mission men and women must meet. the same high standard. they must be physically able to achieve.

those standards in order to serve in. these units that's of course is one of. the main things that he's trying to get. across and now she seems to be saying. the same thing right and that matters. because she seems to be basically. pushing back against these Democratic. women senators and the case they're. making that's right other Republicans on. the committee wanted to zero in on the. whole question of standards and how the. military should be based on Merit and uh.

skill rather than Dei qualities for. those watching at home Dei is not about. giving everybody opportunity it is. rooted in cultural Marxism the idea and. not the wokeness that they claim is. making America weak and making America's. military weak our current Secretary of. the Air Force thought we had too many. white. officers advocated for quotas and if you. crunch the numbers that meant that 800. white officers who've worked really hard.

should be. fired Senators such as senator. tuberville of uh of Alabama talking. about how the military is way too. focused on identity issues I met with a. general a couple of generals this summer. coach we're spending more money on. transgender restrooms than we are. coverings for 100 million doll airplanes. that's not acceptable we can't do that. this is why that has to be installed.

right away so that he can get to the job. of focusing the nation's military on war. fighting that's really what's important. here I uh very much appreciate your. focus on lethality in war fighting we. desperately need it that is the focus. that they have and which goes on for. several. Senators Beyond these questions around. gender and Dei where else does this. questioning go so another main area of.

questioning for the Democrats is just Mr. hex's qualifications for the job and. this is where Democrats really leaned in. uh as if they were treating heith to a. job interview thank you Mr heith I'm. looking forward to this opportunity to. talk I want to return to Senators like. Tim Kane and Mark Kelly zero in on hexis. conduct they asked him about. extramarital Affairs that he has. acknowledged he's had at that time you. were still married to your second wife.

correct uh I believe so and you had just. fathered a child by a woman who would. later become your third wife correct. they asked him about allegations of. sexual assault now if it had been a. sexual assault that would be. disqualifying to be Secretary of Defense. wouldn't it it was a false claim then. and a false claim now if it had been a. sexual assault that would be. disqualifying to be a secretary of. defense wouldn't it. that was a false claim so you talking.

about a hypothetical so you asked him. about reports of his excessive drinking. at the Grand high at Washington DC you. were noticeably intoxicated and had to. be carried up to your room is that true. or false Anonymous smears while in. Louisiana on official business for CVA. did you take your staff including young. female staff members to a strip club. absolutely not Anonymous.

smears all of which is to say you know. with this kind of background you know. how how in the world can we you know. endorse you as is the head of the. defense. department we're hiring you to be the. CEO of one of the most complex largest. organizations in the world in fact Gary. Peters one of the senators from. Michigan. basically equated the Senate at least. the committee here is a board of.

directors and they're kind of grilling. hex on his limited job experiences. what's the largest number of people. you've ever supervised or head in an. organization in your career not three. million no I don't expect that no one. very few people have ever had that. experience but how many it's a. straightup question I think we had over. a hundred uh full-time staff of. concerned vets from bets for America. roughly with thousands of volunteers so. and Peters in particular. you got to be kidding me I don't know of.

any corporate board of directors that. would hire a CEO for a major company if. they came and said you know I supervised. 100 people before you wouldn't be hired. as a CEO of one of the biggest companies. in the country and that's basically what. the Pentagon is you're you're basically. being hired as the CEO of the defense. department do you think that the way to. raise the minimum standards of the. people who serve us is to lower the. standards for the Secretary of defense. that we have someone who has never.

managed an organization more than a 100. people is going to come in and manage in. response to all this the Republicans. kind of turn the idea of job. qualifications inside out um Mr hex said. that it it seems to me that you've. supervised far more people than the. average United States Senator supervises. to you had Senator wicker the chairman. basically making a joke out of it saying. you know how many people do we supervise.

how many senators have showed up drunk. to vote at. night then you have Senator Mullen of. Oklahoma who's basically saying wait a. minute you know who Among Us hasn't had. a a drink too many at work or had an. affair you guys make sure you make a Big. Show and point out the hypocrisy because. a man's made a. mistake and you want to sit there and. say that he's not qualified give me a. joke is. another Republican senator a new Senator.

Tim she a former Navy SEAL also weighed. in on this how many rounds of 5.56 can. you fit into the magazine of an M4 rifle. depends on the magazine but standard. issue is 30. Senator and what size round is the M9. Beretta standard issue sidearm for the. military fire uh a 9mm Senator basically. making the case that hex has the. experience that matters most and he goes. on to grill him about you know what kind. of ammunition goes in certain kind of.

rifles and what tactics would you use in. certain situations and hex answers them. all like kind of Rapid Fire and he seems. to get the answers right yeah he talks. about you know what kind of batteries. and night vision goggles and it's just. it's kind of like this is what real. Warriors care about you know not this. other stuff let's let's get on with. what's really important here the. Republicans seem to be saying right and. by the end it's very interesting. Democrats have basically been saying. you're not technically qualified to run. the Department of Defense in the way.

that we think about previous secretaries. of defense and therefore the dod under. you will be a mess and Republicans are. saying no actually because he has the. right kind of experience and because. he's going to root out you know what. they would describe as kind of woke Dei. culture in the. military uh he's actually going to save. the Department of Defense from the. current meth. as they see it they're both kind of.

talking right past each other the. Democrats and. Republicans exactly and along the way. you know Democrats just seem completely. unconvinced by any of this approach. Democrats are underline this guy is just. a yesman for the president he will do. anything he is so loyal to the president. he could even violate human rights or. other laws or other you know other norms. and conventions you know to satisfy him. Mr HK welcome welcome to the committee. thank you senator you've made several. references right and then there's this.

interesting exchange that hex has with. Senator Angus King of Maine uh you wrote. in your book just last year if we're. going to send our boys to fight and it. should be boys we need to unleash them. to win later on our boys where he talks. about the rules of War and the law of. armed conflict and what US soldiers. shouldn't shouldn't be having to do um. we fight enemies also Senator as as our. generation understands that play by no. rules they use civilians as human.

Shields so are you saying they target. women the Geneva Convention not follow. rules we follow rules but we don't need. burdensome Rules of Engagement make it. impossible for us to win these wars it. gets to you know hex as a guy who used. to be on the ground in these wars in. Iraq and Afghanistan this. suspicion uh of of higher officials. including perhaps some lawyers who put. restrictions on the soldiers who are. going after bad guys in hexx view right. uh we are a country that fights by the.

rule of law and our men and women always. do and yet we have too many people here. in air conditioned offices that like to. point fingers at the guys in dark and. dangerous places the GS in helicopters. in enemy territory who are doing things. that people in Washington DC would never. dare to do or send many what was so. surprising about that is that here you. have a nominee to run the military. saying that in his mind there are. moments where soldiers perhaps don't. need to follow the chain of command.

which is a weird message to send when. you want to be the head of the. military if not it may not mean to. follow not follow but at least to. challenge to challenge the higher. authority and again that puts hex back. in where he's been and where he's most. comfortable he's the grunt he's you know. he's an officer uh who is on the ground. in the fight he's certainly indicating. challenging a chain of command or higher. authority. that don't have these priorities in mind.

that he does this is just another moment. where the Heth is kind of showing he's. going to be a very unconventional uh. defense secretary uh going back he's. going to be a disruptor uh just like his. boss um this concludes today's hearing I. want to thank the witnesses for um and. their families and this hearing is. adjourned thank you thank you. Eric by the end of the hearing it very.

much felt like every Democrat in that. room was signaling that they will be. opposing hex Seth and my sense is that. all the Republicans on that committee. are going to be voting for hex Seth and. so he will be recommended by this. committee and if we assume that the same. scenario plays out in the full Senate. then Heth most likely becomes the next. secretary of defense and it would seem. like there's some risk here especially. for the Democrats in the Senate that.

whether they mean to or not in their. opposition to. Heth they're kind of. reinforcing the message of the election. itself which is that Trump is the. candidate of government disruption which. the majority of Americans voted for and. Democrats are the party that guards the. status. quo what do you make of that. I think you're right Michael that this.

election was about change and was about. disruption I think the Democrats have. had to pick and choose which of these. key cabinet offices they're going to. challenge on some such as its secretary. of state they're going to go along with. this most likely but they've drawn the. line at the Pentagon at least for now. but they just think he is the wrong guy. at the wrong time at this. place in this case they seem fine with. the risk that they're going against the.

trend of disruption the Pentagon is too. important too important an. institution to put in the hands of such. an. inexperienced and unfit candidate in. their. view well Eric thank you very much we. appreciate it thank. you on Tuesday night Senator Joanie. Ernst of Iowa who vote is considered. decisive for hex's confirmation said.

that she would support his nomination. all but assuring that he will become the. next secretary of. defense we'll be right. back here's what else you need to know. day officials in California now say it. may take weeks or longer to fully. extinguish the largest of the wildfires.

that have ravaged Greater Los Angeles on. Tuesday heavy winds ignited several new. fires but many of them were quickly. brought under. control and US Securities Regulators. have sued Elon Musk in federal court. over his conduct in purchasing Twitter. according to Regulators musk violated. Securities laws in 2022 by amassing a. large stake in the social media company.

without filing the required. notification but because of musk's close. relationship with president-elect Trump. it's likely that the incoming. Administration May seek to drop the. lawsuit today's episode was produced by. Rob zipco relle Banja and Carlos PRI it. was edited by MJ Davis Lynn and Maria. burn contains original music by Dan Pow.

and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley our. theme music is by Jim brunberg and then. lanb of. wonderly that's it for the daily I'm. Michael. Babar see you tomorrow. [Music].