Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday regarding the department's fiscal year 2026 budget request — his fourth hearing this month.
Hegseth faced heated exchanges during the hearing as Democratic lawmakers pressed him with hypothetical scenarios aimed at portraying President Donald Trump's administration as overreaching and authoritarian.
'It's all meant to attempt to smear the commander in chief, and I won't fall for it.'
Democrats grilled Hegseth on the Trump administration's strategy amid the escalating tension between Israel and Iran, the deployment of troops in Los Angeles, and the termination of "qualified" military leaders.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) questioned Hegseth's leadership abilities, claiming the DOD "has been consumed by high turnover and disarray" since the secretary's confirmation.
RELATED: Pete Hegseth defends deployment of troops in response to anti-ICE riots
Hegseth countered Reed's critique by highlighting global instability under the prior administration, citing the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
"That was a view of weakness and chaos unleashed by the Biden administration under the previous defense secretary," Hegseth said, referring to former Sec. Lloyd Austin. "So, if a few changes have to be made in the first portion of my term in order to get it right, I think that's pretty acceptable to establish deterrence and rebuild our military and restore the warrior ethos."
Several Democratic leaders decried Trump's decision to send National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid the anti-immigration enforcement protests that turned destructive and violent.
"What he's doing may well be illegal," declared Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). "I want to ask you about contingency plans for the use of active duty military in other cities. Do you have such contingency plans?"
Blumenthal noted that he was "deeply disturbed and alarmed" by Trump's move.
Hegseth retorted, "Senator, I would just say, we share the president's view that, as you characterized it, we are 'deeply disturbed and alarmed' that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers are being attacked while doing their job in any city in America."
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) also questioned Hegseth about the deployed troops, pressing the secretary with outlandish hypotheticals.
"You claim lethality is your top priority. Do you plan to unleash this lethal force against U.S. citizens and civilians in L.A. and other cities?" Hirono asked.
Hegseth rejected the senator's characterization.
"I would like to have a professional response," Hirono snapped.
"Given this regime's dangerous policy of mobilizing troops inside the U.S., the politicizing of the military is a legitimate concern," she continued. "If ordered by the president — I'm going to ask you once again — to shoot peaceful protesters in the legs, would you carry out such an order from the president?"
Hegseth replied, "I reject the premise of your question and the characterization that I would be given or are given unlawful orders. It's all meant to attempt to smear the commander in chief, and I won't fall for it."
RELATED: President Trump has constitutional and statutory authority to use the National Guard domestically
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) used his time to defend Hegseth after Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) claimed that the secretary would never be "held accountable" for allegedly disclosing military actions over the messaging application Signal.
Mullin fired back, "I wonder who was held accountable for the disastrous withdrawal out of Afghanistan, where 13 soldiers died and left thousands of Americans behind underneath Secretary Austin's lead?"
"Did one person get held accountable during that time?" Mullins questioned.
The senator defended Hegseth's record at the DOD after Democrats proclaimed that the department had been plagued with turmoil under his leadership.
Mullin noted that the DOD had the "lowest morale measured in our military history" and "absolutely disastrous" retention rates under Austin.
"You had recruitments that wasn't even meeting lowered standards that you guys lowered," Mullin told his fellow lawmakers. "Now, we have the highest morale that's been measured in decades in the military. We have recruiting numbers that are exceeding expectations."
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Senate Democrats repeatedly berated Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the Department of Defense, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Despite being repeatedly badgered by critical Democrats, Hegseth has stood firm.
Hegseth is the first of Trump's nominees to go through his confirmation hearing. Although Hegseth has drawn a fair amount of media attention leading up to Tuesday, Senate Democrats hammered the nominee's personal challenges and past "mistakes."
'Washington doesn’t build men like Pete. Combat builds men like Pete.'
"I’m not a perfect person, but redemption is real," Hegseth said, addressing the various allegations made against him. "And God forged me in ways that I know I’m prepared for.”
Democrats repeatedly brought up past, and often anonymous, allegations made against Hegseth's past conduct, including alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct. Hegseth has repeatedly denied these allegations, calling them "anonymous smears," and has pointed to the public support from hundreds of his past colleagues.
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma stood up to the Democrats' line of questioning that focused on these allegations, saying he has "had about enough of the liberal hypocrisy" against Hegseth.
"How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night?" Mullin said. "... How many senators do you know have gotten a divorce for cheating on their wives?"
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, similarly pushed back on the allegations made against Hegseth.
"The majority of these come from anonymous sources in liberal media publications," Wicker said of the allegations.
"Washington doesn’t build men like Pete," Wicker added. "Combat builds men like Pete."
In addition to raising the anonymous allegations made against his past conduct, Democrats made a habit of repeatedly interrupting, talking over, and even protesting Hegseth's testimony.
For instance, when Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) asked if he would "use our military to take over Greenland," she cut him off and misrepresented Hegseth's actual response.
"I would never in this public forum give one way or another direct what orders the president gives me," Hegseth said.
"That sounds to me that you basically want to invade Greenland," Hirono responded, cutting off Hegseth's answer.
Hegseth's past comments made about women in combat roles have also been a focal point for Democrats during the hearing. Hegseth, who has objected to women serving in combat roles, said repeatedly during the hearing that the standards in the military ought to be stringent and merit-based, commending the impressive and capable women he has worked alongside in the past.
"Should we believe you think the two women in this committee who served in the military made our military less capable?" Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire asked.
"No, their contributions are indispensable," Hegseth said of the women who served in the military. "My comments are about having the same standards across the board."
While Hegseth has spent much of his hearing on defense from Democrats, he has also faced hesitancy from Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa. Ernst herself is a veteran and has spent much of her career advocating for women who have been sexually assaulted in the military. Her advocacy is reportedly one of the reasons she was unsure about Hegseth's nomination, given the allegations of sexual misconduct that have been made against him.
Although she had initially lobbied against Hegseth, she has since seemed to warm up to the nominee.
"You and I have had many productive conversations," Ernst said. "... We have had many frank conversations."
Hegseth also committed to appointing a senior-level official in the Department of Defense, should he be confirmed, dedicated to sexual assault prevention in the military.
Although he has faced pushback from the usual suspects, Republicans are operating with a comfortable Senate majority, leaving lawmakers and Trump allies confident that Hegseth will be confirmed.
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Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) refused to let CNN tell only one side of the story.
Last week, California police released a report accusing Pete Hegseth, the nominee for defense secretary, of sexual assault in 2017. Despite the suspicious timing of the report's release and its salacious details, Hegseth was never charged with any crimes because, as the report seems to indicate, there was not sufficient evidence to prove the allegations.
'He wasn't charged. He wasn't even kind of charged in this. There was no crime committed.'
And yet, CNN anchor Dana Bash tried to use the report on Sunday to smear Hegseth.
Asking Mullin about the report, Bash — instead of framing the discussion around the lack of evidence and no criminal charges — centered the woman's allegations and claims against Hegseth.
Mullin immediately shut her down.
"Dana, if we're going to get into that, let's talk about the whole police report," he interjected.
"First of all, the police report, if you look at it, it's very clear that what Pete was saying, what his attorney was saying, was accurate," Mullin said. "There was no case here. He was falsely accused."
According to Mullin, the police report fortifies Hegseth's innocence because it says that multiple eyewitnesses identified the woman who accused Hegseth of assault as the "aggressor."
— (@)
After Mullin told CNN's audience what the police report says, Bash tried defending herself. She said she "wasn't done" and was, eventually, going to explain why Hegseth was never charged with a crime.
But Mullin wasn't buying it.
"I'm just saying that you told one part of this, Dana — that isn't accurate," he said.
Surprisingly, Bash thanked Mullin for "giving that other side [of the story] for me." Still, she questioned how Mullin could believe Hegseth's story but not the accuser's.
"He wasn't charged. He wasn't even kind of charged in this. There was no crime committed," Mullin fired back. "The police dropped everything."
"What is unfortunate, in today's world, you can be accused of anything, and then especially if it's something like this, you're automatically assumed to be guilty," he added. "If you read the police report from cover to cover, which I have, and I know every reporter has, too, it is clear there was nothing there. There was clear (sic) that there was no crime committed."
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'I'm not a general, Senator.'
The Sooner State Republican decried how social media has hampered lawmakers' ability to negotiate on legislation behind closed doors.
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