WASHINGTON — Wounded Iraq war vet Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and other women on the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday pressed Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth on his views — long held until President-elect Donald Trump tapped him for the job — that females should not serve in military combat.
Still, nothing happened at the contentious hearing that should derail the panel from advancing to the Senate floor the nomination of Hegseth to run the Defense Department and its three million employees — despite allegations of alcohol abuse, cheating on his wife, sexual abuse and never having managed more than 100 people either in civilian life or when he was in the military.
“How can we ask these warriors to train and perform the absolute highest standards when you are asking us to lower the standards to make you the Secretary of Defense,” Duckworth said, who was a no vote going into the hearing.
This is the one of the first hearings for a Trump nominee, taking place as the Senate is now in the hands of Republicans. While it’s clear that no Democrat on the panel will vote for Hegseth, committee Republicans embraced him one way or another.
Even the one GOP committee member who at first signaled she had problems with Hegseth — Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who served 23 years in the Iowa Army National Guard — said their private multiple discussions addressed her concerns. Unlike the Democratic women, including Duckworth, Ernst did not seek confrontation or generate any fireworks.
“You and I have had many productive conversations,” Ernst told Hegseth at the hearing. “You know that I don’t keep anything hidden. Pull no punches. My colleagues know that as well, so I do appreciate you sitting down and allowing me the opportunity to question you thoroughly on those issues that are of great importance to me.”
Ernst faced pressure from the Trump MAGA wing for raising questions about Hegseth, which could have, if she continued down that path, earned her a primary challenge.
Hegseth’s opposition to females serving in combat are well documented — in his book, interviews, and podcasts.
You’ve heard of battlefield conversions? On Tuesday, we saw Hegseth’s confirmation conversion.
Ernst noted that she was denied a combat role because of the policies in place when she served.
She posed the question this way. If “the young women that are out there now” can meet military standards “and again, I’ll emphasize they should be very, very high standards. They must physically be able to achieve those standards so that they can complete their mission. But I want to know, again, let’s make it very clear for everyone here today: As secretary of defense, will you support women continuing to have the opportunity to serve in combat roles?”
Hegseth replied, “My answer is yes, exactly the way that you caveated it…Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles … given the standards remain high.”
The other women, all Democrats, grilled him about his turnaround.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, sarcastically told Hegseth, that when it comes to women in combat roles and his epiphany, “Well, I appreciate your eleventh hour conversion.”
In mock shock, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told Hegseth she wants to know why views he has held for more than a decade just melted away in the 32 days since Trump tapped him for the job.
An “extraordinary event,” Warren said. Hegseth shrugged off her question.
Duckworth, who lost her legs and the use of an arm when a grenade hit the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq, got her turn three hours into the hearing. She was already on record in calling Hegseth “unqualified” for the job before the hearing — for never running anything near the size of the Pentagon — and being against women in combat.
She warned that when it comes to lowering standards, not to get distracted into a debate about women. If you’re talking standards, her point was that Trump sure lowered the bar when it came to Hegseth.
Behind Duckworth was a framed copy of the “Soldier’s Creed,” the list of military values each soldier should hold dear. It hangs in her Senate office, the same copy that was with her at Walter Reed Army Medical Center when she was recovering from being shot down.
“When it comes to picking who is going to be the next Secretary of Defense,” Duckworth said, …this hearing now seems to be a hearing about whether or not women are qualified to serve in combat, and not about whether or not you are qualified to be Secretary of Defense.”
Concluded Duckworth, “And let me just say that the American people need a Sec Def who’s ready to lead on day one. You are not that person. Our adversaries watch closely during times of transition, and any sense that the Department of Defense that keeps us safe is being steered by someone who’s wholly unprepared for the job puts America at risk, and I am not willing to do that.”