WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday advanced the nomination of veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the nation’s military, despite numerous allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct and his history of disparaging women in the armed forces.
Senators in A 51-49 procedural votes along party lines, he agreed to open a debate on Hegseth’s nomination. The final vote is expected slow Friday evening.
Republican sense. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats and independents in opposing Hegseth.
Collins stated that she voted “no” because she believed Hegseth “does not have the experience and perspective necessary to succeed in this position.”
“I am also troubled by numerous statements, including some in the months just before his nomination, made by Mr. Hegseth about women serving in the military,” Collins wrote 10 minutes after the vote. She added that she was “not convinced that his position on women in combat roles has changed.”
Murkowski stated that she could not “in good conscience” vote for Hegseth for a number of reasons, including his alleged mismanagement and misconduct at two veterans’ organizations.
“While allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking will do nothing to silence my concerns, the past behavior to which Mr. Hegseth has admitted, including repeated infidelity, demonstrates a lack of judgment that is inappropriate in someone charged with leading our armed forces, – she wrote on Thursday in X.
Reed calls background checks ‘inappropriate’
New charges on Tuesday came to the surface from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law that his second wife was concerned about Hegseth’s unstable behavior and that the National Guard veteran was so drunk in uniform at a Minneapolis strip club that his brother had to carry him out.
The allegations were disclosed by Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Reed said he asked Hegseth’s former sister-in-law to testify for him after her December interrogation was not included in Hegseth’s FBI file given to committee members.
Hegseth’s lawyer and his second wife Samantha deny the allegations.
Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said on the Senate floor Thursday that the FBI’s background checks were “insufficient.”
Charges were brought
Since President Donald Trump announced his choice in mid-November, allegations The allegations against Hegseth came one after the other, including misconduct and mismanagement at two veterans organizations he headed after serving in the Army and during combat operations in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2017, he was the then-host of Fox News accused for sexually assaulting a woman in Monterey, California. Hegseth later settled down with her.
Hegseth, 44, he said senators during his confirmation hearing on Jan. 14: “I’m not a perfect person, as they admitted, saved by the grace of God, through Jesus and Jenny,” he said, referring to his third wife, television producer Jennifer Hegseth, who sat behind him during his interrogations.
During the hearing, Democrats criticized Hegseth on several fronts, but particularly regarding his well-documented and lasthas been commenting for several years that women should not serve in combat roles.
Veteran and TV personality he argued in his latest book, “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” he states that “Dads push us to take risks. Moms put training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military, especially in combat units.
Hegseth, who earned million dollars as a Fox News host before he left in November, he also wrote several books, including: compare from the 11th century crusades between Christians and Muslims to today’s “battle for the soul of America.”
Last updated at 15:57, January 23, 2025
