Senate Armed Services Committee advances Pete Hegseth's nomination to lead the Pentagon
Source: CNBC
CONGRESS
Senate Armed Services Committee advances Pete Hegseth's nomination to lead the Pentagon
A cloud of controversy has hung over Hegseth, but he now appears to be on track to be confirmed as Trump's defense secretary.
———— Pete Hegseth is now set to receive a full Senate vote to lead the Defense Department.Allison Robbert / AFP - Getty Images
Jan. 20, 2025, 5:29 PM EST
By Scott Wong, Frank Thorp V and Kate Santaliz
WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday voted along party lines to send Pete Hegseth’s nomination to be defense secretary to the Senate floor as President Donald Trump tries to move quickly to get critical members of his Cabinet in place.
All 14 Republicans on the committee voted in favor of Hegseth, while all 13 Democrats voted against him. Despite initial concerns about allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement — all of which Hegseth has denied — not a single Republican senator has said so far they will vote no, meaning he is likely on track to be confirmed by the Senate. … Thursday is now the soonest that vote would occur in the full Senate unless all 100 members agree to move things along more quickly.
Trump’s decision in November to tap Hegseth, 44, a former Fox News host who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars with the Army National Guard, stunned many in Washington given that he had limited military command or significant management experience. And in the weeks that followed, Hegseth’s nomination appeared on the verge of collapse amid reports that Hegseth had paid a settlement to a woman who had accused him of sexual assault in a hotel room in 2017, and that he had a past history of excessive drinking on the job, including at Fox News.
But Hegseth denied all of the allegations, vowed that he wouldn’t touch alcohol if confirmed to lead the Pentagon, and said that Trump had told him to “keep going, keep fighting.”
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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-armed-services-committee-pete-hegseth-vote-defense-secretary-rcna188390
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