Confirmation hearings live updates: Pete Hegseth grilled over comments on women serving in military

Further to Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s line of questioning, Hegseth has been walking back his prior comments on women in combat since he got the nomination, something essential to winning the support of Senator Joni Ernst.

He has been doing this in private meetings with Republican senators, in comments to reporters, and today in his exchange with Senator Shaheen.

Amber Raiken takes a look at his biography.

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire starts her questioning of Hegseth on his views on women in the military. She notes they make up 18 percent of the armed forces.

“Should we take it that you believe that the two women on this committee who have served honorably and with distinction made our military less effective and less capable?”

Hegseth calls women’s contributions “indispensable” but then says military standards over time have been “eroded over time”.

Shaheen responds: “I appreciate your 11th-hour conversion.”

Sen. Reed: “Oh, by the way, would you explain what a Jagoff is?”

Hegseth: “I don’t think I need to, sir.”

Hegseth: “Because the men and women watching understand.”

Reed: “Well perhaps some of my colleagues don’t understand.

Hegseth: “It would be a JAG officer who puts his or her priorities above the warfighters, their promotions, their medals, in front of having the backs of those who are making the tough calls on the front lines.”

Reed: “Wow, interesting.”

Senator Reed challenges Hegseth over his stance on DEI in the military, who says it should be about meritocracy.

Reed counters: “All of your public comments don’t talk meritocracy. They talk about liberal democratic efforts that are destroying the military, ‘those people are our enemies.’ That’s not meritocracy. That’s a political view. Your goal, as I see it emerging is to politicize the military.”

Ranking Democrat Senator Reed asks Chairman Wicker for a second round of questioning as Republican chairs committed to at the hearings for former defense secretaries Hagel and Carter.

Wicker says senators will have “adequate time,” and says the committee will follow the “exact precedent” of more recent hearings.

Reed has also reviewed the FBI background check, which he says is “incomplete.” He asks for the full committee to review the report as only he and Wicker have seen it.

Wicker rejects that request, saying he is following precedent for former secretaries Austin and Mattis — though there have been instances in the past when other members have reviewed FBI reports.

There was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us… most of it wasn’t about me, it was about President Trump,” Hegseth says of the reporting about his drinking, the sexual assault claim against him, and financial mismanagement at previous employers — all of which he has denied.

He says these negative stories were published by “left-wing media” and came from “anonymous sources” with the intention of taking him down because, like Trump, he is a “change agent.”