Confirmation procedures for members of Donald Trump’s government began Tuesday in the US Senate with the hearing of potential Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, whose controversial profile is creating a strong stir in Washington.
In the United States, the Constitution requires that appointments of ministers and other senior officials be confirmed by a vote in the Senate, after a hearing in the committee responsible for the position in question.
Pete Hegseth, a 44-year-old ex-major and Fox News anchor, opened the ball Tuesday morning by taking to the Armed Services Committee grilling.
His main mission, he told senators, will be to “bring back the warrior culture” to the Pentagon.
Upon his appointment, Pete Hegseth assured that he wanted to reform the Pentagon from top to bottom, which had become too “woke” and acquired an ideology that was too left-wing, according to him. In particular, he wants to dismiss certain generals and once again ban transgender people from enlisting in the flag.
Donald Trump, “like me, wants a Pentagon focused entirely on combat, lethality, meritocracy, principles and preparation. That’s all. That’s my job,” he assured the committee, after being interrupted several times by people in the audience protesting against the war in Gaza.
“Smear campaign”
The former soldier quickly came under heavy fire from elected Democrats.
“Mr. Hegseth, I do not believe you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this office,” said Senator Jack Reed.
The Democrat listed “extremely alarming” information regarding Pete Hegseth and “disregard for the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in service, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment and other issues of concern.”
As soon as his appointment was announced, the opposition criticized his lack of experience to lead the most powerful army in the world, but also certain controversial statements.
A 2017 sexual assault accusation in California also emerged in November. No complaint was filed at the time and the former soldier denies any non-consensual relationship.
Pete Hegseth is also suspected of regularly drinking excessively.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Armed Services Committee, last week decried “a guy who found himself so drunk at work events that he repeatedly needed to be carried out.” “.
In his opening remarks, Pete Hegseth denounced “a handful of anonymous sources who were allowed to wage a smear campaign against me.”
“Our left-wing media in America today, unfortunately, don’t care about the truth,” he added.
“Harmful”
Democratic senators initially focused during the hearing on Pete Hegseth’s past comments expressing opposition to the presence of women in combat troops.
Statements “so hurtful for the men and women currently enlisted in the American army, harmful to morale, harmful to the proper functioning and discipline” of the armed forces, criticized Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Pete Hegseth defended himself by affirming “to respect every military woman who has worn the uniform”, and that these criticisms were in reality aimed at a lowering, according to him, of the levels of requirements within the American army.
Despite the controversies, Donald Trump declared at the beginning of December to maintain his choice and assured that the former Fox News presenter was a “winner”.
The future American president has already had to face the forced withdrawal of Matt Gaetz, his initial choice for the Department of Justice, in the face of opposition from many senators even in the conservative camp.
While for his first term Donald Trump relied largely on the Republican establishment to appoint experienced men and women to key positions, this time the president-elect mainly chose loyalists and financial supporters.
After Pete Hegseth, the hearings will continue in the Senate in the days and weeks to come.
Some controversial appointments, like those of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Health and Kash Patel at the FBI, have not yet had a scheduled hearing.
A rejection by the Senate of the appointment of a minister, unheard of since 1989, would represent a thunderbolt and a snub for Donald Trump.
Confirmation procedures for members of Donald Trump’s government began Tuesday in the US Senate with the hearing of potential Minister of Defense, Pete Hegseth, whose controversial profile is creating strong stir in Washington. In the United States, the Constitution requires that the appointments of ministers and other senior officials be confirmed by a vote…
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