A key Republican has announced that she will vote to confirm Pete Hegseth, likely solidifying his chances to become the next Secretary of Defense.
Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernest declared that she will be voting to confirm Hegseth, a crucial endorsement for a nomination that seemed to be on shaky ground a few weeks ago.
During an interview on an Iowa radio station, Ernst said Hegseth adequately answered all her questions during his confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
“He pointed out the woke issues at the Pentagon and I think we’re at a point where now we can start moving forward. People know where he stands on these issues. I will be supporting President Trump’s pick for secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth,” Ernst said.
After voicing concerns about Hegseth’s previous remarks that women shouldn’t be allowed to participate in combat and multiple claims of sexual misconduct, Ernst, a combat veteran, and sexual assault survivor, was regarded as a crucial vote.
At his confirmation hearing, Hegseth walked back his past remarks on women in the military, telling Ernst that “women will have access to ground combat roles.”
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune recently told President-elect Donald Trump in a private meeting that he believes Hegseth has the votes to be confirmed as Secretary of Defense, CBS News reported.
When asked for comment, a spokesman for Thune told CBS News, “Two things we don’t discuss publicly: Whip counts and private conversations with the president.”
During an interview last week on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Thune promised a fair process but expressed more caution.
“I think these are nominees who are new enough, they’ve been going around and conducting their meetings, which I think, frankly, have gone very well, but they still have to make their case in front of the committee. And, you know, we don’t know all the information about some of these nominees,” Thune said.
Republicans and Democrats are still negotiating these dates in a number of panels. The dates may change until the committees make the hearings public.
The confirmation hearings for Marco Rubio and Elise Stefanik are scheduled for the week of January 13. James Risch, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, has stated that he would prefer Rubio to be confirmed on January 20, the first day of Trump’s presidency, which would necessitate the cooperation of all senators. It is anticipated that Rubio will receive broad bipartisan backing.
On January 14, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hold Pam Bondi’s attorney general confirmation hearing. Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing as FBI director is scheduled for late January, following hearings for the attorney general, deputy attorney general, and associate attorney general, according to Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley in December, before the New Orleans truck assault.
However he noted, “it doesn’t have to be in that order. That’s kind of the tradition.”
The week of January 13 might see confirmation hearings for John Ratcliffe, the candidate to head the CIA, and Tulsi Gabbard, the person President-elect Trump appointed as Director of National Intelligence. Negotiations are ongoing, according to a Senate Intelligence Democrats spokeswoman, and Republicans would want unanimous Democratic support.
The confirmation hearing for Interior Department chief Doug Burgum is scheduled for January 14.
Hearings for Trump’s nominees for EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are tentatively set for January 15.
In order for the entire Senate to vote on those candidates as soon as possible, Senate Republicans want the majority of the confirmation hearings pertaining to national security concluded by the time Trump takes office on January 20.
However, it’s unclear how much Democrats would impede the more contentious nominees’ progress in committees and on the floor.
