Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing set for today as Trump’s defense pick faces senators

Two Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Mark Kelly, penned an op-ed in Military Times on Tuesday saying Hegseth it is “extremely unclear” that Hegseth is the person to lead the Pentagon.

“One quick glance at his resume and concerns over his lack of experience and qualifications become obvious,” they wrote. 

Duckworth and Kelly are both combat veterans, and they note that “military experiences aren’t requirements for the job, but his civilian leadership experience is not just limited, it is also fraught with evidence that he is not an effective or trusted leader.”

They listed what they consider some of the troubling aspects of Hegseth’s biography, including that he allegedly “financially mismanaged two veterans political organizations” and that his staff there said he “misused funds, was frequently drunk in front of them and fostered an environment where sexual harassment was an issue.”

Duckworth and Kelly note that Hegseth “will have the chance to answer for all of this at his confirmation hearing, along with the opportunity to share what, if any, views he has on the critical programs and decisions that will be awaiting the next person to have this job.” But they write that “as of right now, the only defense policies he has made clear are his beliefs that our military’s diversity is a weakness, not a strength, and that women should not serve in combat” — positions they describe as “not just wrong, but dangerous.”

“The reality is that the world is too dangerous of a place, and our service members’ lives too precious, to lower the bar,” they write.