{"id":1050515,"date":"2024-12-17T17:26:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T22:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1050515"},"modified":"2024-12-17T17:26:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T22:26:36","slug":"5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Questions for Pete Hegseth As He Attempts to Bail Out His Nomination on Capitol Hill\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This week, Pete Hegseth is headed back to Capitol Hill in an attempt to salvage his Defense Secretary nomination after new polling<\/a> revealed only 2 in 10 Americans approve of him. Hegseth\u2019s scandal-ridden nomination has included revelations that he opposed women in combat, defended privatizing the VA, and is facing \u201cdisturbing\u201d<\/a> allegations about his appalling behavior leading to growing doubts from Republicans and military leaders about his fitness for this post. Here are just a few of the questions he owes the American people answers to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Pete Hegseth explain his \u201cregressive\u201d views on women\u2019s freedoms, including \u201cjoking that women shouldn\u2019t have the right to vote\u201d and opposing women serving in combat?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanity Fair<\/a>: <\/strong>\u201cBut Hegseth also displayed his hard-right politics. \u2018We would argue about women\u2019s reproductive rights. He had some regressive views on birth control. His position was basically, if you got pregnant it was your fault.<\/strong>\u2019 Another person close to Hegseth recalled him joking that women shouldn\u2019t have the right to vote. <\/strong>[…]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete Hegseth<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Hegseth answer for the \u201cdisturbing\u201d allegations about his behavior \u2013 including reports of sexual assault?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cA California woman told police that Trump Cabinet pick Pete Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she \u2018remembered saying \u2018no\u2019 a lot,\u2019<\/strong> a police report obtained by CNN shows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsweek<\/a>: \u201cSouth Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that it will be \u2018difficult\u2019 for Pete Hegseth, <\/strong>President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, to defend himself against an allegation of sexual assault.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGraham called the allegation \u2018disturbing,\u2019 telling CBS News, \u2018I think some of these articles are very disturbing. He obviously has a chance to defend himself here, but some of this stuff is it\u2019s going to be difficult\u2026<\/strong>\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does Hegseth stand by privatizing veterans\u2019 health care, scamming veterans out of their earned benefits, and advocating for predatory for-profit colleges?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air & Space Forces Magazine<\/a>: \u201cHegseth worked for a number of conservative groups<\/strong>, including Vets for Freedom and the conservative-backed Concerned Veterans for America, which pushed for privatization of many Department of Veterans Affairs functions<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media Matters<\/a>: \u201cFox\u2019s Pete Hegseth, Brian Kilmeade criticize American veterans who apply for every government benefit they qualify for\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ProPublica<\/a>: \u201cFor-Profit Colleges Tap a Fox News Host to Influence Trump\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does Hegseth respond to Republicans\u2019 and military leaders\u2019 \u201calarm\u201d about his lack of experience? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cHegseth, if confirmed by the Senate, would lead 1.3 million active-duty troops in uniform and more than 750,000 civilians, hold contentious meetings with U.S. allies and develop strike options against the Islamic State and Iranian proxies. And while Hegseth has military experience, he has never run an organization larger than a small nonprofit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Would you trust him to run Walmart?\u2019 said a former DOD official. \u2018Because that\u2019s how many employees we have.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Folks are shocked,\u2019 said a current DOD official. \u2018He\u2019s just a Fox News personality that\u2019s never worked in the government.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018It is a massive bureaucracy, you have to understand how that works to support national security around the globe,\u2019 the official added. \u2018It is tedious and challenging and it is not at all related to getting on Fox News and pontificating.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wall Street Journal<\/a>: \u201cRepublican senators said that they want closer scrutiny of President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s pick for defense secretary. […] The former Fox News host was an unconventional choice for the top Pentagon job, as he has never led a large government agency<\/strong>, but the debate about his qualifications has been overshadowed by allegations related to his personal life.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cSince being tapped to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has never run a large government agency, has faced allegations of sexual misconduct and mismanagement. <\/strong>He denies the charges and is now meeting with Senate Republicans to build support for his confirmation. […]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn interviews this week, several GOP senators opted not to disclose whether they would vote for Hegseth,<\/strong> even as some Senate aides privately questioned whether he\u2019d make it through the confirmation process.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Hegseth continue to spread \u201cbaseless\u201d conspiracy theories about January 6 and \u201cjustify\u201d the actions of the dangerous J6 insurrectionists who attacked our men and women in uniform? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cPresident-elect Donald Trump\u2019s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, justified the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and spread baseless conspiracy theories <\/strong>claiming the initial break-in was a false flag operation carried out by leftist groups disguised as Trump supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HuffPost<\/a>: \u201cThe television personality has been a vocal Trump supporter and defended the people who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6<\/strong>, 2021, saying that the crowd<\/strong> seeking to overturn the 2020 election results just \u2018loved freedom.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, Pete Hegseth is headed back to Capitol Hill in an attempt to salvage his Defense Secretary nomination after new polling revealed only 2 in 10 Americans approve of him. Hegseth\u2019s scandal-ridden nomination has included revelations that he opposed women in combat, defended privatizing the VA, and is facing \u201cdisturbing\u201d allegations about his appalling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1050515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Questions for Pete Hegseth As He Attempts to Bail Out His Nomination on Capitol Hill\u00a0 - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-17T22:26:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-17T22:26:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/\",\"name\":\"5 Questions for Pete Hegseth As He Attempts to Bail Out His Nomination on Capitol Hill\u00a0 - Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png?w=1024\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-17T22:26:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-17T22:26:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 Questions for Pete Hegseth As He Attempts to Bail Out His Nomination on Capitol Hill\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\",\"name\":\"Democrats\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64\",\"name\":\"Shelby Reese\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shelby Reese\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/reeses\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Questions for Pete Hegseth As He Attempts to Bail Out His Nomination on Capitol Hill\u00a0 - Democrats","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_site_name":"Democrats","article_published_time":"2024-12-17T22:26:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-17T22:26:36+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png?w=1024","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Shelby Reese","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shelby Reese","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/","name":"5 Questions for Pete Hegseth As He Attempts to Bail Out His Nomination on Capitol Hill\u00a0 - Democrats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png?w=1024","datePublished":"2024-12-17T22:26:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-17T22:26:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png","width":1500,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/5-questions-for-pete-hegseth-as-he-attempts-to-bail-out-his-nomination-on-capitol-hill\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Questions for Pete Hegseth As He Attempts to Bail Out His Nomination on Capitol Hill\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/","name":"Democrats","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64","name":"Shelby Reese","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shelby Reese"},"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/reeses\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1050515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1050516,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050515\/revisions\/1050516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1050515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1050515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1050515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}