🚨 NEW: Pete Hegseth Faces Bipartisan Opposition As the “Least Experienced Defense Secretary” in U.S. History

In response to Senate Democrats – and even some Republicans – opposing Trump’s nominee Pete Hegseth to lead the U.S. Department of Defense, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:

“Pete Hegseth is an unqualified extremist with an appalling record of abuse and grifting our veterans that both Republicans and Democrats agree makes him unfit to lead 1.3 million active-duty troops. Trump’s pick to run our Defense Department wants to strip veterans’ benefits, privatize their health care, and allow predatory for-profit colleges to prey on them without consequence. Hegseth barely passed muster with the GOP-controlled Senate and is certainly not going to pass muster with the American people. Our service members deserve better than ‘the least experienced defense secretary’ in our nation’s history, and Democrats will hold Hegseth and Trump accountable for their reckless, out-of-touch priorities that put our national security at risk.” 

NEW: Senate Democrats were joined by Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski to oppose Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.

Senate Press Gallery: “By a vote of 51-50, with VP Vance being the tie-breaking vote, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Peter Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. 

“Republican senators voting no: Senators Collins, McConnell, and Murkowski.”

Hegseth is the “least experienced defense secretary” in U.S. history, with Republicans and military leaders raising concerns about his inexperience. 

NPR: “If confirmed, he would be the least experienced defense secretary in the history of the republic, going back to Henry Knox, the first secretary of war who was a key officer in Washington’s army. Those who rise to that post often come from Capitol Hill, industry or the highest ranks of the officer corps.”

Politico: “Hegseth, 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.

“‘Folks are shocked,’ said a current DOD official. ‘He’s just a Fox News personality that’s never worked in the government.’

“‘It is a massive bureaucracy, you have to understand how that works to support national security around the globe,’ the official added. ‘It is tedious and challenging and it is not at all related to getting on Fox News and pontificating.’”

Wall Street Journal: “Republican senators said that they want closer scrutiny of President-elect Donald Trump’s 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, but the debate about his qualifications has been overshadowed by allegations related to his personal life.”

Hegseth’s reported inappropriate and abusive behavior — including sexual assault and domestic violence allegations — raises serious questions about his fitness to manage the Department of Defense.

Pete Hegseth: “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.”

CNN: “A 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 ‘remembered saying ‘no’ a lot,’ a police report obtained by CNN shows.”

The New Yorker: “A trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran—Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America—in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.”

Penelope Hegseth: “You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

New York Times: “An ex-sister-in-law of Pete Hegseth’s submitted a sworn statement to senators on Tuesday that accused Mr. Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, of being so ‘abusive’ toward his second wife that she once hid in a closet from him and had a safe word to call for help if she needed to get away from him. …

“In the affidavit, which was sent on Tuesday to the Armed Services panel, Danielle Hegseth wrote that Mr. Hegseth’s second wife, Samantha Hegseth, ‘once hid in her closet from Hegseth because she feared for her personal safety.’”

Hegseth has said again and again for years that women shouldn’t serve in combat roles.

Pete Hegseth: “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.”

ABC: “In his book, he said women have performed well in dangerous support roles during war, but ‘women in the infantry — women in combat on purpose — is another story.’ He adds, ‘women cannot physically meet the same standards as men.’

“He said, ‘Dads push us to take risks. Moms put the training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military, especially in combat units.’”

Hegseth is a dangerous extremist who said he could target top military leaders in order to push Trump’s political agenda and has defended those accused of war crimes.

Politico: “Amid fears Trump may use his powers as commander-in-chief to purge the top generals or civil servants, politicizing the Defense Department, Trump’s pick to be Pentagon chief has explicitly confirmed that he could target military leaders, including Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown, in an effort to remove diversity and inclusion programs at the agency.”

Media Matters: “Fox’s Pete Hegseth has been repeatedly advocating for looser accountability for war crimes as Trump prepares to pardon convicted war criminals”

Associated Press: “Hegseth, who has downplayed the role of military members and veterans in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and railed against the Pentagon’s subsequent efforts to address extremism in the ranks, has said he was pulled by his District of Columbia National Guard unit from guarding Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration. He’s said he was unfairly identified as an extremist due to a cross tattoo on his chest.”

Media Matters: “Fox & Friends Sunday defends white supremacist Charlottesville protesters: ‘There’s a reason those people were out there’”

Newsweek: “Hegseth said he did not see Putin taking the world into a wider global or nuclear conflict, saying his gains would be incremental, part of what he called a ‘get my s*** back’ conflict. …

“While the White House and the EU described Putin’s actions as a violation of international law and a pretext for an invasion, Trump said Putin’s move was ‘genius’ and ‘very savvy.’

“Hegseth defended the comments saying that Trump was trying to tease the media for obsessing over the Russian leader.”

Hegseth has criticized veterans for applying for earned benefits and advocated for privatizing VA health care while helping the for-profit college industry exploit veterans.

Media Matters: “Fox’s Pete Hegseth, Brian Kilmeade criticize American veterans who apply for every government benefit they qualify for”

Air & Space Forces Magazine: “Hegseth worked for a number of conservative groups, including Vets for Freedom and the conservative-backed Concerned Veterans for America, which pushed for privatization of many Department of Veterans Affairs functions.”

ProPublica: “For-Profit Colleges Tap a Fox News Host to Influence Trump”