Pete Hegseth is being grilled by Sen. Angus King (R-IA) on his nomination to be the next Secretary of Defense, and it's a monster episode where we cut in and out live of the hearing and tell you why Pete would make an excellent Defense Secretary.
00:00:41.000His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA. We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
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00:01:41.000Let's see what Senator Scott has to say, and then we'll throw back here, kind of give you an update of this historic hearing.
00:01:47.000Let's see what Senator Rick Scott has to say.
00:01:49.000It was instrumental in 2014 and 2017 in ensuring that veterans had health care choice.
00:01:54.000The second letter, submitted by Mr. Cason Sparrow, Digital Media Director of CVA, from 2015 to 2017, stated, Pete brought incredible energy, focus, and a clear vision to the organization and showed everything that the team accomplished together.
00:02:10.000And I similarly asked to submit to the record a letter from Paul J. Roberts, Retired Colonel, U.S. Army Special Forces, speaking to the unwavering integrity of Mr. Hegseth.
00:03:11.000I've served on this committee for six years, two years under President Trump and the past four under President Joe Biden.
00:03:17.000I've seen how the Biden-Harris administration pushed the DOD to prioritize wokeness over being the most lethal military force in the world.
00:03:25.000It's our readiness, our national security, and our ability to recruit people who are willing to put their lives on the line for our country.
00:03:31.000Can you talk about some of the changes we can make to improve recruitment and rebuild our military into the most lethal force in the world?
00:03:39.000First of all, Senator, thank you for the question.
00:04:09.000There was a minor incursion under Barack Obama into Crimea, followed by nothing under President Trump, followed by an all-out assault by Vladimir Putin into Ukraine under the Biden administration.
00:04:20.000That did not happen under Donald Trump.
00:04:25.000The Biden administration, Afghanistan collapsed tragically, ending the lives of 13 at Abbey Gate, who we remember every single day, and no one was held accountable for that.
00:04:35.000Chinese spy balloons were flying over the country.
00:04:38.000None of that happened under Donald Trump, and our warfighters understand that.
00:04:42.000So there's no better recruiter, in my mind, for our military than President Donald Trump.
00:04:48.000My job is to come alongside him should I be confirmed and continue to emphasize his emphasis on warfighting, on getting...
00:04:57.000Anything that doesn't contribute to meritocracy...
00:05:01.000Pete Hegseth is just crushing it right now.
00:05:04.000So this is the way it works, is this is the Senate Armed Services Committee chaired by Senator Roger Wicker, who's wearing a foreign flag for whatever reason.
00:05:12.000Someone can explain that to me, that the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has a foreign flag that he's wearing, that being Ukraine.
00:05:18.000Then he also has a co-chair from Rhode Island.
00:06:25.000Pete Hegseth will bring that warrior ethos back into the Department of Defense.
00:06:31.000Pete Hegseth understands the threat of DEI, critical race theory, and the American left.
00:06:36.000He understands that our threat is not just international, it is also domestic.
00:06:43.000Pete Hegseth will purge the United States military of DEI. Of the lowering of standards, he will put forward in equilibrium that if women want to serve in the military, they must have the same physical fitness standards as men.
00:06:57.000Pete Hegseth has been morally clear on who our enemies are.
00:07:00.000By the way, Pete Hegseth had a great answer on Hamas, on Israel.
00:07:06.000He said that it's time for us to get out of Ukraine, and you can see how Pete is under fire.
00:07:11.000He has been in combat, so this is nothing to him.
00:07:14.000And Pete is not connected to the military-industrial complex like Mark Milley, like Mad Dog Mattis, like all of these failures at DOD. Pete Hegseth actually fought in the front lines, and it's time that we have a warrior to lead other warriors.
00:07:30.000Someone that has ascended, who, with distinction and honor, Pete Hegseth served this nation.
00:07:38.000Mark Milley, if you get a picture of Mark Milley, he has all these medals.
00:07:40.000What did he ever do to get all those medals?
00:09:27.000So going back to January 2013, you told a Fox News interviewer that women in the military simply couldn't measure up to men in the military, saying that allowing women to serve in combat roles would force the military to lower the bar.
00:09:42.000You picked up on that same theme in 2015, making remarks on Fox News.
00:09:47.000Referring to women in combat as, quote, it would erode standards.
00:09:53.000June 2024, you said on Ben Shapiro's podcast, quote, women shouldn't be in combat at all.
00:10:03.000And then, of course, we've talked about it in 2024. He published a book.
00:10:07.000And you say on page 26 of your book, we need moms.
00:10:11.000But not in the military, especially in combat units.
00:10:16.000Page 48 of your book, you claim that women should not be in combat roles because men are distracted by women.
00:10:26.000And then 10 weeks ago, you appeared on the Sean Ryan show and said, I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.
00:10:35.000Now, I presume you recall making all these statements?
00:10:40.000Senator, I'm not familiar with the article you're pointing to in 2013, but it underscores my argument completely.
00:10:47.000Because in that 2013 argument, I was talking about standards.
00:10:50.000Standards are what it's always been about, Senator.
00:10:53.000Please, let's not have this same fight again.
00:11:36.000Now, that is a very, very big about-face in a very, very short period of time.
00:11:46.000So help me understand, Mr. Hegseth, what extraordinary event happened in that 32-day period that made you change the core values you had expressed?
00:12:04.000Senator, again, I very much appreciate you bringing up my comments from 2013, because for me, this issue has always been about standards.
00:12:16.000And unfortunately, because of some of the people that have been in political power for the last four years, priorities other than standards, lethality, and meritocracy have driven decision-making.
00:12:44.000What I see is that there's a 32-day period in which you suddenly have another description about your views of women in the military.
00:12:55.000And I just want to know, what changed in the 32 days that the song you sang is not the song you come in here today to sing?
00:13:05.000Senator, the concerns I have and the concerns that many have had, especially in ground combat units, is that in pursuit of certain percentages or quotas, standards have been changed.
00:13:15.000And that makes the combat more difficult for everybody involved.
00:13:18.000Let me make a suggestion about what happened in that 32 days.
00:13:22.000You got a nomination from President Trump.
00:13:25.000Now, I've heard of deathbed conversions, but this is the first time I've heard of a nomination conversion.
00:13:34.000That many women serving in the military right now might think that if you can convert so rapidly your long-held and aggressively pursued views in just 32 days, that 32 days after you get confirmed, maybe you'll just reverse those views and go back to the old guy who said, straight up, women do not belong in combat.
00:14:01.000Now, Mr. Hagstaff, you have written that after they retire, generals should be banned from working for the defense industry for 10 years.
00:14:09.000You and I agree on the corrosive effects of the revolving door between the Pentagon and defense contractors.
00:14:16.000It's something I would have liked to talk to you about if you'd come and been willing to visit with me.
00:14:21.000But the question I have for you on this is, will you put your money where your mouth is?
00:14:26.000And agree that when you leave this job, you will not work for the defense industry for 10 years?
00:14:32.000Senator, it's not even a question I've thought about.
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00:16:25.000Coach Tommy Tuberville, senator from Alabama, is asking questions right now, so we can kind of take a step back and frame what's happening right here.
00:16:32.000You have a frontline fighter that is being grilled by people that have never served before.
00:16:38.000And I have nothing against people not serving before.
00:16:40.000I mean, obviously, I have not served, so everyone is allowed to have opinions about these things.
00:16:44.000But at some point, we must realize the military is slipping at such a dramatic pace that we have lost our fighting edge.
00:16:51.000And the fighters themselves coming back into the military is what's missing.
00:16:56.000We need less academics in the military and more fighters in the military that know what it's like to send their best friends home in body bags.
00:17:06.000We need less people that spent their lives in air conditioning and attend rubber chicken dinners for a living.
00:17:21.000Served the country with courage and distinction and valor.
00:17:25.000Now, a big debate around Pete Hegseth's nomination is women in combat.
00:17:31.000Now, we've been very clear on this program that we don't believe that women should be in frontline combat roles.
00:17:36.000It's not to say that women can't serve in other roles and other capacities and it doesn't diminish the courage or the valor that many women have showed.
00:17:47.000And Pete Hegseth was saying this in his confirmation, but Pocahontas, who needed a peace pipe or something, by the way, she had to calm down, out of control, was interrupting him too much.
00:18:04.000Now, when we are trying to go up against the Chinese Communist Party, when we are trying to go up potentially against Iran, God forbid, or some other enemy, wouldn't it be necessary?
00:18:16.000That every single person that we are sending in the front lines has the same capacity.
00:18:26.000Women are, if they're going to be in front line combat roles, should have the same thresholds as men.
00:18:32.000You should not accommodate whether or not you can carry a fellow service member after they get shot or whether they pass out or they are wounded.
00:18:40.000The enemy doesn't care if you are a male or female.
00:20:11.000So, for example, a 20-year-old woman...
00:20:14.000has to only be able to deadlift 210 pounds.
00:20:18.000But a 20-year-old man has to be able to deadlift 340 pounds.
00:20:22.000Said differently, a woman does not even need to be able to pick up or carry a fellow man with gear on at the very base minimum standard.
00:20:34.000So they should have to be as strong in order for a woman to serve in the military.
00:20:37.000If a woman can deadlift 340 pounds, welcome in.
00:20:41.000If a woman can do the push-up standards and can do the plank standards, which actually the plank standards are equal, or the mile standards, so why are we lowering the standards of the finest fighting force ever in the pursuit of diversity?
00:22:07.000There's an inverse relationship between the size of staffs and victory on the battlefield.
00:22:15.000We don't need more bureaucracy at the top.
00:22:17.000We need more warfighters empowered at the bottom.
00:22:20.000So it's going to be my job working with those that we hire and those inside the administration to identify those places where fat can be cut so it can go toward lethality.
00:22:38.000We have far too much partisanship in our country right now.
00:22:44.000I think it's eating away at the fabric of what has always made this country great, about bringing people together from all sorts of backgrounds, all sorts of experiences.
00:22:56.000We know that in our motto, together as one, we are strong.
00:23:01.000And so we and this committee, and certainly I speak for myself, but I think I speak for many of my colleagues, want to take partisanship out of this proceeding as much as we can.
00:23:43.000And we voted by a big margin for those folks as well.
00:23:47.000But part of that was the process and having an opportunity to get to know the person and understand their qualifications and understand the standards.
00:23:54.000I made repeated requests to meet with you prior to this meeting.
00:23:58.000I know many of my other colleagues also wanted to meet with you.
00:24:02.000I did that with the other nominees that I was happy to vote for.
00:24:05.000I thought they were highly qualified individuals and true professionals.
00:24:09.000And yet, I could never get a meeting with you.
00:24:11.000Was there a reason you were afraid to have one-on-one meetings with some of my colleagues before the hearing?
00:24:18.000Senator, I know there was a great deal of outreach to multiple offices.
00:24:29.000It would have been so much better to have that opportunity to talk.
00:24:34.000I think that's a big mistake, and it doesn't set us on a good course when you refuse to meet with people and have a professional conversation about the huge challenges that we face at the Department of Defense.
00:24:45.000My colleagues, the folks who introduced you, and others, the chairman has mentioned about the management of the DOD as a concern, cost overruns, delays on weapons systems.
00:24:55.000We need strong management at the Department of Defense, first and foremost.
00:25:00.000We've got to have someone who's going to grab the reins and give the taxpayers value for having the most lethal fighting force in the world that defends freedoms, but we've got to do it in an efficient way.
00:25:11.000I've heard about the jobs you've had in the past.
00:26:33.000I don't know of any corporate board of directors that would hire a CEO for a major company if they came and said, you know, I supervised 100 people before.
00:26:43.000They'd ask you, well, what kind of experiences you had?
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00:28:03.000We have a problem of standards in the DOD, and we have to raise standards for the men and women who serve.
00:28:19.000Do you think that the way to raise the minimum standards of the people who serve us is to lower the standards for the Secretary of Defense, that we have someone who has never managed an organization, more than 100 people, is going to come in and manage this incredibly important organization and do it with a professionalism and has no experience that they can tell us that they have actually done that?
00:28:46.000Other issues that are brought up, they're all very important.
00:28:48.000I'm just about trying to get things done, managing efficiently, and having the best people who have demonstrated that in a large organization.
00:28:56.000And I'm sorry, but I don't see that in your background.
00:29:00.000There are a lot of other things you can do very well.
00:29:02.000You're a capable person, but you have not convinced me.
00:29:08.000That you're able to take on this tremendous responsibility with a complex organization and having little or no significant management experience.
00:29:17.000Senator, I'm grateful to be hired by one of the most successful CEOs in American history, should I be confirmed.
00:29:24.000Mr. Hegg said that it seems to me that you've supervised far more people than the average United States senator supervises to.
00:29:34.000Except for former governors, Mr. Chairman.
00:29:45.000Senator Mullen, I understand you are yielding back your time and do not wish to ask questions.
00:29:59.000I'd like to submit for the record signatures by 32 members of the House of Representatives who are veterans.
00:30:06.000The signatures call on the Senate to honor the constitutional duty of advice and consent by conducting a fair, thorough confirmation process that evaluates his nomination solely on substance and merits.
00:30:19.000His distinguished military service, academic credentials, and a bold vision for revitalizing the national offense.
00:30:26.000I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record.
00:30:30.000You know, there's a lot of talk going about, talking about qualifications and then about us hiring him if we are the board.
00:30:37.000But there's a lot of senators here I wouldn't have on my board because there is no qualifications except your age and you got to be living in the state and you're a citizen of the United States to be a senator.
00:30:47.000Other than the fact that we've got to convince a lot of people to vote for us.
00:30:51.000And then when we start talking about qualifications for if you're qualified for it, could the chairman tell me what the qualifications are for the Secretary of Defense?
00:31:01.000Mr. Chairman, could you tell me what the qualifications are for the Secretary of Defense?
00:31:12.000I was getting some advice from my second-in-command.
00:31:17.000I'm just making a point because there's a lot about qualifications.
00:31:20.000I think it's so hypocritical of senators, especially on the other side of the aisle, be talking about his qualifications, not going to be the Secretary of Defense, and yet your qualifications aren't any better.
00:31:35.000You guys aren't any more qualified to be the senator than I'm qualified to be the senator, except we're lucky enough to be here.
00:31:40.000But let me read you what the qualifications of the Secretary of Defense is, because I googled it, and I googled it and went through a lot of different sites, and really it's hard to see, but in general, the U.S. Secretary of Defense position is filled by a civilian.
00:31:55.000If you have served in the U.S. Army forces, And I've been in the service for, you have to be retired for at least seven years, and Congress can weigh that.
00:32:05.000And then there's questions that the senator from Massachusetts brought up about serving on a board inside the military industry, and yet your own secretary that you all voted for, Secretary Austin, we had to vote on a waiver because he stepped out the board of Raytheon.
00:32:27.000But I guess that's okay because that's a Democrat Secretary of Defense.
00:32:35.000And then Senator Kaine, or I guess I better use the senator from Virginia, starts bringing up the fact that what if you showed up drunk to your job?
00:32:44.000How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night?
00:32:50.000Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job?
00:32:54.000And don't tell me you haven't seen it because I know you have.
00:32:57.000And then how many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives?
00:34:51.000Just as President Trump is assembling his cabinet, I look forward and already am in the process of building one of the best possible teams you can imagine with decades and decades of experience outside of the Pentagon, driving innovation and excellence, and also inside the building, knowing how to make it happen.
00:35:37.000So do you believe you're capable of surrounding yourself with capable individuals that you're going to be able to run those same ideas by and surround yourself with people that are smarter and better equipped and maybe areas that you don't necessarily carry its expertise with?
00:35:55.000Senator, the only reason I've had success in life to include my wonderful wife is because of people more capable around me and having the self-confidence to empower them and say, hey, run with the ball.
00:37:17.000Just a point of personal privilege to make a correction.
00:37:21.000The reason that General Austin required a waiver was not because of his participation in a corporate enterprise.
00:37:27.000It was because he did not have seven years.
00:37:31.000of interruption between his service and his appointment.
00:37:35.000Second point is that if any of us were appointed as Secretary of Defense we would be subject to the same types of questions and the case in point is Senator John Tau was nominated for Secretary of Defense.
00:37:48.000It was discovered by his colleagues that his behavior was not commensurate with the responsibilities despite his service and he was voted down.
00:38:02.000Senator Duckworth, you are recognized.
00:38:04.000Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and also Secretary Mattis had to have this waiver as well.
00:38:10.000Mr. Hexner, this hearing is about whether you qualify to be Secretary of Defense, and one of the qualifications to answer my colleague's question is to actually...
00:38:18.000Win the votes of every member of this committee and to be confirmed by the United States Senate.
00:38:23.000And you need to convince us that you're worthy of that vote because the people of the state of Illinois voted for me to be their senator so that I could cast that vote when it comes to picking who is going to be the next Secretary of Defense.
00:38:35.000This 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.
00:38:44.000And let me just say that the American people need a sec def who's ready to lead on day one.
00:38:50.000Our adversaries watch closely during times of transition.
00:38:53.000And 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.
00:39:03.000With that in mind, Ms. Hexeth, I want you to try to explain to the American people this committee who have to vote for you And to our troops who are deployed around the world, why you are qualified to lead the Department of Defense.
00:39:15.000We already know that you've only led the largest 200-person organization.
00:39:19.000We already know that you so badly mangled a budget that after you left, they had to bring in a forensic accountant to figure out what went wrong.
00:39:29.000And the largest budget you ever had...
00:39:31.000Hey, Senator Duckworth, a lot of people bring in forensic accountants, okay?
00:39:36.000There were no findings because you've never led an audit.
00:39:38.000What guidance did you give the auditors?
00:39:41.000None, because you've never led an audit.
00:39:43.000Nobody expects you to be an accountant, Mr. Hexth.
00:39:45.000What we expect is for you to understand the complexity of this Pentagon budget process that is absolutely necessary to outfit our warfighters.
00:39:54.000Look, the Secretary of Defense is required to make quick decisions every single day.
00:39:59.000That, well, with high-level information that's being provided for them, a Secretary of Defense has to have breadth and depth of knowledge.
00:40:05.000Right now, I am concerned that you have neither.
00:40:08.000What is the highest level of international negotiations that you have engaged in, that you've led in?
00:40:14.000Because the Secretary of Defense does lead international security negotiations.
00:40:18.000There are three main ones that the Secretary of Defense leads and signs.
00:40:25.000What is the highest level of international security agreement that you have led, and can you name some that the Secretary of Defense would lead?
00:41:21.000The importance of at least one of the nations in ASEAN and what type of agreement we have with at least one of those nations.
00:41:29.000And how many nations are in ASEAN, by the way?
00:41:32.000I couldn't tell you the exact amount of nations in that.
00:41:34.000But I know we have allies in South Korea and Japan and in Australia and trying to work on submarines with them.
00:41:42.000None of those countries are in ASEAN. None of those three countries that you've mentioned are in ASEAN. I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations.
00:41:53.000Listen, Mr. Hexel, we ask our troops to go into harm's way all the time.
00:42:13.000It's the same copy that hung over my desk at Walter Reed every single day that I woke up and fought my way back because I wanted to go back and serve next to my buddies who'd saved my life.
00:42:23.000This same copy, these words are repeated over and over and over again.
00:42:29.000And let me read out two things to you, two sentences.
00:42:32.000I will always place the mission first, and I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior task.
00:42:41.000Mr. Hexeth, our troops follow these words every single day, and they man up, and they pack their rucksacks, and they go to war, and they deserve a leader who can lead them, not a leader who...
00:43:37.000I would like to submit for the record a letter submitted by Mr. Brian Marriott that says anyone who would claim that Pete mismanaged funds at Vets of Freedom is ignorant of the facts.
00:43:50.000Without objection, it will be admitted to the record.
00:44:06.000So, I want to also submit for the record a letter submitted by Mr. Daniel Catlin, the former operations manager at Vets for Freedom.
00:44:15.000Mr. Catlin's letter states that Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Catlin conducted weekly meetings to meticulously review every dollar that the organization spent.
00:44:25.000Pete's hands-on approach and dedication to financial responsibility ensured that Vets for Freedom operated within its budget.
00:44:33.000Mr. Catlin's letters also states that Pete treated his staff with the utmost respect, regardless of race or gender.
00:44:40.000So I ask unanimous consent to clear this into the record, Mr. Chairman.
00:45:17.000So if confirmed, how would you approach increasing the number of Americans eligible to serve in the military, but without lowering standards?
00:45:26.000Well, Senator, I think there are already, to the credit of, I believe the Army and other services have now caught up to that, which have piloted programs that have had some success, that have allowed...
00:45:38.000Young Americans who want to serve in the military but can't necessarily pass the ASFAB or pass the APFT to get into basic training, an opportunity to get caught up, a preparatory class.
00:45:50.000Unfortunately, yes, we do have a problem of obesity in our country, not necessarily something that the, if I'm confirmed, Secretary of Defense is able to address.
00:45:59.000But I do think leading from the front matters.
00:46:01.000I do think having a Secretary of Defense that will go out and do PT with the troops matters.
00:46:08.000That has been out there and done that before.
00:46:10.000And hopefully that's a motivating factor for young people.
00:46:13.000But the reality of obesity and criminal backgrounds and medical problems have long been an issue of recruitment in America, unfortunately.
00:46:24.000What changed is the perception of military service.
00:46:28.000Because of the condition of the services.
00:46:30.000And frankly, because of, in some ways, the way our schools don't teach young people to love the country anymore.
00:46:34.000And if you don't love the country, why do you want to serve that country?
00:47:46.000And I truly believe, and I'm humbled by this.
00:47:49.000The response we've already seen from young men and women who've decided to join the military when they had said, I wasn't going to.
00:47:58.000But seeing a commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, reassured them.
00:48:02.000Seeing the possibility, if confirmed, of a secretary of defense that would have their back reassured them.
00:48:07.000And so in the first couple of months after President Trump...
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00:49:14.000While we continue to research and develop six-generation and collaborative combat aircraft.
00:49:20.000Senator, that's a very important conversation, one that I've been looking at a great deal.
00:49:25.000A lot of it, just to be clear, involves classifications and understanding precisely cost and capabilities, including capabilities of enemy systems.
00:49:36.000Both not just fourth and fifth, but potential sixth generation, which we've already seen a prototype released from the Chinese.
00:49:43.000That's a dangerous development considering at least the publicly understood condition of NGAD, which I look forward to the opportunity to looking underneath the hood on that.
00:49:51.000But ensuring fourth and fifth are capable and upgraded as necessary will be a part of our contingency.
00:50:00.000But when you look at what's happening in the Indo-Pacific, say, operability, range, Is it going to matter because it's such a large battle space?
00:50:09.000That will all factor in decisions that are made.
00:50:12.000And that's where I feel, frankly, a little bit liberated.
00:50:16.000That I didn't work at Lockheed or any number of...
00:52:09.000Thank you, Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, for holding this hearing.
00:52:13.000And Mr. Hegseth, I appreciate your service and your willingness to serve again.
00:52:19.000However, I am deeply disappointed that you would not agree to meet with me, as other members have said on this committee prior to this hearing, as is the precedent for this committee and others.
00:52:29.000So let me tell you a little bit about what I would have talked about had you made yourself available prior to the hearing.
00:52:36.000Nevada is home to the premier aviation training ranges for both the Air Force and the Navy, the largest ammunition depot in the world and the only place in the country where we are able to verify the reliability of our nuclear stockpile without the need for explosive testing.
00:52:53.000The Nevada National Guard is one of the only few units across the country with the mission of fighting wildfires, that's for another hearing, and currently activated to fight the devastating fires around Los Angeles in support of our neighbors.
00:53:06.000We therefore play a critical role in our national security, and the person who holds the position of Secretary of Defense matters greatly to Nevada service members and our military equities.
00:53:29.000So my veterans and the folks who are serving active duty now are concerned about what you think.
00:53:37.000DOD does not have jurisdiction over Nevada's 200,000 plus veterans, but I am interested in your views about...
00:53:45.000The service members, once they've transitioned out of the military, given the influence you would have while they're in service, have confirmed.
00:53:51.000In 2019, on a segment of Fox& Friends, you said that veteran service organizations, VSOs, I'm going to quote, encourage veterans to apply for every government benefit they can ever get after they leave the service.
00:54:03.000You stated you don't want to, quote, be dependent on government assistance from the VA based on injuries or illnesses that might have arisen from your military service.
00:54:12.000So I'm just going to ask you a few yes or no questions about veterans.
00:54:15.000Understanding you don't have jurisdiction, this is important to our morale, it's important to our recruitment, and it's important to our retention, and it's important to how we respect others in this country.
00:54:29.000Do you believe that VSOs are wrong to support veterans in obtaining the benefits that they have rightfully earned and deserved when they signed that line like you did for your service?
00:54:38.000Senator, veterans deserve the benefits they've earned.
00:54:42.000I have been in many battles with traditional veteran service organizations over differences of opinion about how to deliver those services, including veterans' choice.
00:55:41.000Are you willing to support our veterans' organizations that will help our veterans get every damn thing that they deserve because they signed on the dotted line to keep us safe, just like you did?
00:57:02.000They're wide-ranging from China to Russia to Iranian-backed terrorism.
00:57:06.000So do you agree with the National Defense Strategy that the U.S. cannot compete with China, Russia, and their partners alone and certainly cannot win a war that way?
00:57:16.000And this is a quote from the National Defense Strategy.
00:57:18.000Is your interpretation that American first foreign policy is America alone?
00:57:23.000Does that include abandoning our allies and partners such as NATO, Taiwan, Israel, and others?
00:57:29.000And if we can't win alone and we don't strengthen our strategic partnerships, I would say that position, your position, places on a strategic path to lose to our adversaries.
00:57:40.000So maybe you're okay with choosing that path for America.
00:57:43.000I want to know how you square that position with the positions you articulated in your book where you wrote that NATO is at relic, at best a distraction, and should be scrapped and remade.
00:57:55.000Are you okay with sending us down a path where we can't win?
00:57:59.000Senator, the world has had, our friends in the world have had no better ally.
00:58:04.000Our allies have had no better friend than President Donald Trump, who's reinvigorated a NATO alliance, who's stood behind Israel in every way, in ways this administration has not.
00:58:14.000He has ensured that the NATO alliance has become far more robust.
00:58:19.000He worked with allies in the Pacific as well.
00:58:55.000I'd like to submit for the record a letter submitted by Mr. Christopher Ahn, the former Director of Operations for Vets for Freedom.
00:59:01.000Mr. Ahn, his letter states that the suggestion, quote, the suggestion that funds were misused for personal gain, lavish parties, or other improper purposes is categorically false.
00:59:10.000Throughout my time working with Pete Hexep, He consistently demonstrated exceptional integrity in leadership.
00:59:16.000I asked unanimous consent to enter this letter into the record.
00:59:27.000I also want to thank you for your clarity in articulating the vision you have for the Department of Defense in restoring an ethos, a warrior ethos.
00:59:42.000Which is in stark contrast to the ethos we've seen the last four years, which is of weakness and wokeness.
00:59:48.000And I want to drill down on a few things specifically and exactly how we've gotten to where we've gotten with recruiting and morale.
00:59:57.000DEI. There's been a little bit of discussion about this, but for those watching at home, DEI is not about giving everybody opportunity.
01:01:07.000And in an effort to police this, in a 1984 Orwellian novel, there was actually an eyes and ears program to rat on your fellow students who might say mom and dad.
01:01:22.000Or just say, in a tough situation, you know what?
01:01:27.000This wasn't limited, by the way, to our academies.
01:01:33.000The Secretary of the Air Force, our current Secretary of the Air Force, in a memo from August of 2022, thought we had too many white officers advocated for quotas.
01:01:47.000And if you crunch the numbers, that meant that 5,800 white officers who've worked really hard should be fired.
01:01:56.000In the United States of America, I don't know how we got here.
01:02:01.000And by the way, the Air Force isn't alone here.
01:02:03.000The Navy sort of touted a drag queen influencer.
01:03:08.000And then you have to put in Army, Navy, and Air Force secretaries and others, civilian positions at the helm, who are committed to the same priorities that the President of the United States is, and if confirmed, the Secretary of Defense will be.
01:03:21.000Send a clear message that this is not a time for equity.
01:03:25.000Equity is a very different word than equality.
01:03:28.000Equality is the bedrock of our military.
01:03:31.000Men and women, duty positions in uniform, black, white, doesn't matter.
01:03:35.000We treat you equally based on who you are in the image of God as an individual.
01:04:06.000And it makes people feel like they're being judged by something other than how good they are at their job, which is poisonous inside institutions.
01:04:13.000So on top of this recruiting crisis, that wasn't enough for this administration.
01:04:18.000during the COVID hysteria and in their attempt to fire 100,000 people who work for bigger companies because they didn't get the COVID shot or to mask five-year-olds, they decided also to make this a central plank in their policy at the Pentagon.
01:04:33.0008,000 well-trained, so we got a recruiting crisis, 8,000 well-trained men and women were fired.
01:04:44.000Will you commit today, Mr. Hexeth, to recruit these folks back?
01:04:50.000To give them back pay and give them an apology from the United States government for how they were disrespected.
01:04:57.000Senator, I will commit to this because the Commander-in-Chief has committed to this.
01:05:02.000That not only will they be reinstated, they will receive an apology, back pay, and rank that they lost because they were forced out due to an experimental vaccine.
01:05:28.000And again, if you weren't paying attention to what this election was all about, it was about the disruptors versus the establishment.
01:05:36.000And the American people have had enough of business as usual for the same people that we line up for these same jobs who give us the same results.
01:05:44.000We need somebody who's going to go in there and fight for innovation, fight for change.
01:05:49.000I think you're that person, and I appreciate your willingness to sit here and listen to some of these undignified attacks.
01:09:28.000So, is it accurate that the organization reached a financial settlement with a female staffer who claimed to be at a strip club with you, and there was a colleague who attempted to sexually assault her?
01:09:56.000I don't know the nature of how that played out.
01:10:00.000But you understand there was a financial settlement for a young female staffer who accused another member of the organization, not you, of sexual assault in a strip club?
01:10:13.000We have multiple statements on the record referring to that.
01:10:16.000But you claim you were not there when that occurred?
01:10:24.000Now, the behavior I cited, if true, do you think that this behavior of intoxication, going into these type of establishments, women on your staff being so uncomfortable that they have to file these sort of harassment claims, do you think this is appropriate behavior for a leader?
01:10:47.000Senator, the overwhelming majority of anyone who's worked for me, including the on-the-record statements that have been submitted to this, with their name on it, on the record, men and women who worked with me every day, are the overwhelming preponderance of evidence that testify to my leadership and professionalism in leading Vets are the overwhelming preponderance of evidence that testify to my leadership and professionalism in leading Vets for
01:11:07.000My leadership has been completely impugned on these veterans organizations that did fantastic work on behalf of the men and women fighting overseas and advocating, and we manage our financial books with integrity across the board.
01:11:22.000How many people, everybody who runs the campaign- I have limited time.
01:11:45.000The challenge here for me, Mr. Hexap, is when there is discussion about personal challenges and you, admittedly, I have about 90 seconds left here.
01:12:07.000If you had to answer these questions about sexual assault against you and your drinking and your personal conduct, would it have been different if you were under oath?
01:12:19.000Senator, all I'm pointing out is the false claims against me.
01:12:24.000Okay, I take it you do not want to answer that question.
01:12:26.000I walked into this hearing this morning concerned that you haven't demonstrated adequate leadership in your civilian roles.
01:12:36.000And this is a dangerous world we're living in here.
01:12:38.000And America cannot afford a Secretary of Defense who is unprepared for that mission.
01:12:44.000I'm going to leave with concerns about your transparency.
01:12:47.000You say you've had personal issues in your past, yet when asked about those very issues, you blame an anonymous smear campaign, even when many of these claims are not anonymous.
01:13:26.000I actually just stepped out of the hearing room to speak with you and your audience right now.
01:13:30.000As you've seen, it's followed back and forth between being cantankerous with some of the senators and other senators appreciating the support for Pete's nomination.
01:13:41.000I think the most important thing to take away from actually inside the hearing room is that there are about 50 Special Operations veterans inside the room there to support Pete.
01:13:57.000That's probably the most lethal room in America right now.
01:14:01.000And what that means, beyond being a badass room, is that in the special operations community, when we go through selection process, we use peer review as a really critical, essential tool to select the best of the best.
01:14:13.000Essentially, you see Pete Hegseth being peer reviewed by the actual war fighters in the room right now.
01:14:19.000And people who have served with Pete, people who have gone through arduous experiences with Pete are there to support him.
01:14:27.000And I think that's being reflected in the testimony.
01:14:29.000So let's talk about the military standards and how they have been relaxed and how they're different for males and females.
01:14:38.000And this has been a big issue made in this committee hearing.
01:14:44.000I think that it's been a sticking point in several of the Q&As back and forth with the different senators.
01:14:51.000I think the important thing to emphasize is that Pete wants to return military culture to a culture that's front-site focused on warfighting.
01:14:59.000And in order to do that, he believes that we have to maintain extraordinarily high standards.
01:15:04.000There's been a lot of discussion about this, but sitting in the back of the room, my opinion is actually not that much white space.
01:15:13.000There's unanimous consent agreement that there should be really high standards for our warfighters, and they should be vigorously enforced.
01:15:21.000And both centers on both sides of the aisle and the prospective nominee, Pete Hegseth, seem to be incongruent about that, where it seems to be breaking down.
01:15:32.000There's a sort of series of kind of like ad hominem or sort of personal attacks, but that neglects the bigger issues that everybody...
01:15:40.000Both on the dais up there and then Pete sitting in the hot seat, everybody there actually cares about national security really deeply.
01:15:48.000From the back of the room, I wish they'd spend a lot more time focusing on the big stuff that everybody's concerned about rather than the small stuff.
01:15:55.000In closing here, Kaj, because I know we've got to get back in, what do you think Pete Hegseth will do for military recruitment and morale?
01:16:01.000Yeah, I think the truth is Pete's already done it.
01:16:07.000As the hearing started off, you saw the Senate committee chair say that we're living in a moment of consequence.
01:16:13.000We're at one of the most volatile periods in global history.
01:16:17.000Africa, Special Operations Command, Africa specifically, is at the most volatile time on the continent in the last many decades.
01:16:26.000So these are dangerous times, requires transformational leadership, and it's going to require a new generation of warfighters.
01:16:32.000There's no better testament to the ability to inspire and move people towards a mission than all of these former warfighters who spent the last 20 years fighting the global war on terror, mobilized to be motivated for PEAT, come out and support PEAT. So I think that bodes pretty well for recruitment.
01:16:50.000And the next generation of warfighters.
01:16:52.000I think, empirically, there's already been a spike in recruitment.
01:16:56.000And I think that's because a lot of the American public is aligned with the values that Pete espouses.
01:18:18.000And if I'm confirmed with my leadership, we're going to restore the continuity of an apolitical military that acts decisively and only based on merit.
01:18:27.000They sound basic, but they're fundamental.
01:18:30.000You and I agree that wokeness is weakness.
01:18:32.000Mr. Hexet, do you support racial quotas in recruitment or promotions in the United States military?
01:18:38.000Senator, I do not support any form of racial quota.
01:18:42.000Do you support affirmative action in our nation's military academies?
01:18:46.000Senator, I only support hiring and promoting and admitting the best and brightest, whatever their background is.
01:18:55.000Mr. Hex said Lloyd Austin, the secretary, later went AWOL. He disappeared for days and never told the president, didn't even inform the president's chief of staff that he was going into the hospital.
01:19:11.000I know in any one of my jobs, if I had decided to go AWOL for even a day or two, in uniform or around that, that would have been a concern.
01:19:36.000Chair recognizes the distinguished ranking member for a unanimous consent request.
01:19:41.000Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit an article discussing some of the issues of readiness and DEI. There has been a comment that 5.9 million man-hours have been used for DEI. General Maia clarified that that is an estimate out of more than two.
01:20:04.000Million man-hours that the Department of Defense invested during the time period.
01:20:39.000For those who I haven't met in my one week that I've been sworn into the Senate, I'm a CIA officer recruited after 9-11.
01:20:46.000I did three tours armed in Iraq alongside the military.
01:20:51.000And have worked for four different secretaries of defense, both Democrat and Republican, proudly, and watched them make decisions that literally determine the life and death of Americans in the dark of night.
01:21:03.000I'm also a Democrat representing a state that Trump won, right?
01:21:09.000So I understand that President Trump has the right to nominate his people.
01:21:13.000We are going to have policies that we disagree with.
01:21:16.000All of that, to me, comes very standard.
01:21:19.000What I think I'm most concerned with is that no president has the right to use the uniformed military in a way that violates the U.S. Constitution and further taints the military as that apolitical institution that we all want.
01:21:34.000And our founders designed the system so that...
01:21:38.000You know, we had posse comitatus, that we weren't going to use active duty military inside the United States and make American citizens potentially scared of their own military.
01:21:49.000We went through our own experience with that with the British.
01:21:52.000As the Secretary of Defense, you will be the one man standing in the breach should President Trump give an illegal order.
01:22:00.000I'm not saying he will, but if he does, you are going to be the guy that he calls to implement this order.
01:22:07.000Do you agree that there are some orders that can be given by the Commander-in-Chief that would violate the U.S. Constitution?
01:22:22.000But do you believe there is such a thing as an illegal order that Joe Biden or any other president Donald Trump could give?
01:22:28.000Is there anything that a commander-in-chief could ask you to do with the uniformed military that would be in violation of the U.S. Constitution?
01:22:37.000Anybody of any party could give an order that is against the Constitution or against the law.
01:22:43.000Okay, so are you saying that you would stand in the breach and push back if you were given an illegal order?
01:22:49.000I start by saying I reject the premise that President Trump...
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01:25:30.000I was going to say, well, I thought it was, if I'm not wrong, just based on the background and the aesthetic, I've spent many a time in Reagan.
01:25:37.000So, Mark, I know you've been catching some of the hearing here.
01:25:42.000What is your analysis, and do you think Pete Hegseth is likely to become the Secretary of Defense?
01:25:47.000I think he will unless there's a bunch of Republicans who secretly have said they're going to vote no and they're just being encouraging at the hearings to avoid conflict with MAGA.
01:25:59.000Democrats, I think, have done a pretty good job better than the opposition party typically does of having their topics organized and focusing pretty well on the things they wanted to bring out.
01:26:31.000He was a case study, just as his team was a case study in November and December to get him to this point.
01:26:38.000He was a case study in how to handle tough questioning, and none of the Republicans seemed the least bit concerned on the committee.
01:26:45.000Now, Senator Cox from Utah said this morning that he's undecided, and if people suspicion that Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins might vote a no, means the committee may be misleading.
01:26:58.000The committee is pretty supportive in the main, and the candidates to vote no are largely not on the committee.
01:27:05.000So I don't think he's out of the woods yet, but I do think it appears he'll get a favorable vote in the committee.
01:27:10.000And then once he's on the floor, I think President Trump can put down a fair amount of pressure if there is.
01:27:18.000So let me ask you, Mark, the whole slate, it seemed as if things were not going great for Pete, but then, of course, there was this threat of primary challenging that we may or may not have been involved in.
01:27:31.000Do you think that changed the direction of the future of the whole slate being confirmed?
01:27:36.000I think three things happened that changed the direction of the slate.
01:27:40.000First of all, you and your colleagues made it clear.
01:27:44.000And people try to cast this as something evil and dark.
01:27:47.000It just made it clear that there'd be accountability for those who didn't support the president's nominees.
01:27:52.000And I think some of the senators got that message.
01:27:55.000They're not interested in going against the energy of the party.
01:27:58.000Number two, I think the team's geared up, right?
01:28:01.000When you're nominated for something, you get a Sherpa, you get a press aide, you get a small team of folks, usually a former senator.
01:28:08.000To help guide you through the process and interact with the Senate offices.
01:28:13.000And I think those teams weren't necessarily up and running in every case.
01:28:17.000And I think they've hired really good people for that.
01:28:19.000Finally, you know, if you look at the sum total besides Pete Hegson, there haven't been big revelations about Tulsi Gabbard, about Bobby Kennedy, about, I'm blanking on his name, the FBI nominee, Kash Patel.
01:28:48.000So I think those three things have combined to create a very positive situation.
01:28:53.000And last, I'll just say, and I've reported this before, and I know you know it, the level of communication between Mar-a-Lago, folks like you, the senators who are most supportive, Senator Thune.
01:30:10.000And it's with a group of people who are all very, very online and who have a metabolism.
01:30:16.000Not everybody's metabolism is quite as great as yours for this stuff, but most everybody is.
01:30:21.000And I think people like you and Elon Musk and Steve Bannon kind of set the pace.
01:30:27.000For others and cause others who might have more children or need more sleep or interested in spending three hours with a football game to say, hey, you know, I can't do that right now.
01:30:39.000That's a critical period for the revolution.
01:30:41.000So we need to be up and running and keeping pace with the guys and gals who set the pace, which is, again, very online, very 24-7.
01:31:18.000But being on the West Coast, you can kind of stay up very late and you can kind of set the news cycle for the next day while everyone else is asleep.
01:31:37.000On this program, we've said that if 2017 was marked by the resistance, it seems as if that 2024 and 2025 is marked by the acquiescence.
01:31:46.000Breaking news here while we were on air.
01:31:49.000To be on the dais, which is where President Trump is getting sworn in, is a big deal.
01:31:54.000It's cabinet officials, it's family, it's people that are very close and organizers that have been around.
01:32:01.000The dais will now include Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk.
01:32:07.000Elon's not a surprise, but Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg will be on the dais.
01:32:13.000What is your reaction going from 2017 full-out resistance, we're almost to the day, four years from the day of January 6th, you have Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk bending the knee?
01:33:50.000Part of it is respect for what he's accomplished, not just surviving being shot, but the greatest comeback in modern American political history.
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01:37:13.000From what I can understand and from all the research that has been gathered and all the sourcing, I do not believe that there is going to be a round, too.
01:37:23.000There will be a committee vote and then a floor vote, and that's it.
01:37:26.000I believe this is the end of questioning.
01:40:18.000It's going to now go to a committee vote and then a floor vote, which means Pete Hegseth can assume the duties as the Secretary of Defense likely as soon as Monday or Tuesday.
01:40:46.000He says, so help me God, in five hours, five days and 22 hours and five minutes, five days, 22 hours, President Donald Trump goes to the outer room of the Capitol.
01:41:04.000And then the Senate will pick it up that afternoon.
01:41:06.000And that afternoon, Pete Hegseth can then get in a motorcade and ride right into the Pentagon.
01:41:12.000And Pete Hegseth can then that evening, around 7 or 8 at night, get to his desk as the head of the Secretary of Defense and start signing executive orders.
01:41:20.000Not executive orders, but memorandums.
01:41:22.000Only the president can sign executive orders.
01:41:31.000On this coming Monday evening, wokeism will be on its way out of the military.
01:41:35.000Of course there's going to be a lot of excommunication of these demons that have to happen.
01:41:39.000But the military should not be a sociological experiment.
01:41:42.000The focus should be on lethality and meritocracy.
01:41:47.000Pete Hegseth understands the mission statement of the military should be to protect our national interests and kill the enemy without apology.