Republicans rally around Hegseth at hearing, setting him up for confirmation

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Republican senators uniformly rallied around Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, during his Tuesday confirmation hearing – a sign that he’s on a likely glide path to confirmation, just one month after his nomination appeared to be in serious jeopardy.

In the four-hour hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democrats raised sharp questions about the former Fox News host’s qualifications, his personal conduct, and his views on women in the military. Republicans, on the other hand, expressed strong support for his years of military service and his outspoken opposition to what he described as the Biden administration’s fight to prioritize diversity over lethality in the military. Not a single Republican on the committee indicated that they were likely to oppose Mr. Hegseth, suggesting that he’ll win confirmation in the GOP-controlled Senate, where he can lose no more than three Republican senators.

The hearing’s most telling moment came when GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa offered him a chance to clarify his previous statements criticizing women serving in combat roles. Senator Ernst, an Army veteran who had been blocked by military policy from serving in a combat role because of her gender, had expressed concerns about Mr. Hegseth’s nomination, both over that issue as well as concerns about his personal conduct. But she appeared to have had a change of heart after a private meeting in which Mr. Hegseth promised her that he would support women in combat roles, amid a concerted pressure campaign from Trump allies to back him or face a Trump-backed primary opponent.

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