By any objective measure, Pete Hegseth, the scandal-plagued former Fox News host who Donald Trump tapped to lead the Pentagon, did not fare well during his confirmation hearing. In fact, watching the developments at the Senate Armed Services Committee unfold, at times it was downright embarrassing.
Hegseth hedged on whether he’d go along with an order to fire on American protesters on American streets. He pointed to gender-based infantry quotas that don’t appear to exist. Asked whether sexual assault would be disqualifying for a defense secretary nominee, Hegseth wouldn’t given a straight answer. When Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona confronted him with allegations about personal misconduct and asked whether they were true or false, Hegseth inexplicably chose not to say.
In one especially memorable exchange, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois asked the prospective nominee about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, better known as ASEAN, and its members. Hegseth replied by referencing South Korea, Japan and Australia, at which point the Illinois Democrat reminded him that none of those countries are part of the regional coalition.
And yet, once the relatively brief, one-round-of-questioning hearing wrapped up, the committee’s Republican chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi declared that Hegseth’s performance was a “tour de force,” a “triumph” and a “magnificent display,” reality be damned. Soon after, as NBC News reported, the news for the president-elect’s choice to lead the Defense Department got even better.
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who had been seen as a key Republican skeptic of Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Defense Department, said she will support him after his performance at Tuesday’s confirmation hearing. … Ernst had indicated her plans to support Hegseth’s bid in an interview Tuesday on Simon Conway’s radio show.
The Iowan had been, by all accounts, undecided on Hegseth’s fate ahead of the committee hearing, and she was expected to ask him tough questions. Instead, Ernst threw a few softballs in his direction, watched him struggle for four hours, and decided to endorse him for the position.
Hours later, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes noted that if GOP senators will “put someone this obviously, ludicrously unqualified in charge of the Pentagon, with the U.S. Armed Forces and the security and safety of the nation on the line, there is no limit to how abject they will be in their pursuit of Donald Trump.”
Stepping back, three overlapping failures came into focus during the confirmation hearing: Hegseth failed to prove that he’s up for the job; Republican senators failed to prove that they’re prepared to do their jobs; and Trump failed to care enough about his job to choose a qualified nominee for one of the most challenging jobs on the planet.
Hegseth’s failure was predictable; few have seriously tried to argue that he’s qualified to oversee the Pentagon. Similarly, the president-elect’s failure was, and is, entirely in line with his indifference to governing and his hostility to foundational American institutions.
But as the dust settles on the closely watched hearing, it’s Senate Republicans who continue to plumb new depths. The Armed Services Committee’s GOP members had a responsibility at least to pretend to care whether Hegseth is prepared to serve as secretary of defense. They didn’t bother.
The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols noted that he found himself hoping that international observers didn’t tune in. What America and the world saw today was not a serious examination of a serious man. Instead, Republicans on the committee showed that they would rather elevate an unqualified and unfit nominee to a position of immense responsibility than cross Donald Trump, Elon Musk, or the most ardent Republican voters in their home states. America’s allies should be deeply concerned; America’s enemies, meanwhile, are almost certainly laughing in amazement at their unexpected good fortune.
Nichols’ dispatch added, “Most of the GOP senators asked questions that had little to do with the defense of the United States. … Perhaps that was just as well for Hegseth, because the few moments where anything of substance came up did not go well for him.” The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus had a similar assessment, marveling at Republicans’ “relentless lack of curiosity — an utter absence of willingness to take the constitutional role seriously — that has marked this nomination from the start.” Will Hegseth be confirmed anyway? Probably. His opponents were counting on Ernst to take her responsibilities more seriously, and once it became clear that she would not, the confirmation arithmetic immediately shifted in Hegseth’s favor. That said, Republican Sen. John Curtis told Politico that he remains undecided on the prospective nominee. If the Utah senator ends up voting against the nominee, Hegseth’s detractors will need to find three more GOP senators willing to break ranks. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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