Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, met Wednesday with several Republican senators to shore up their support, as mounting concerns over sexual assault allegations and a newly revealed report about his professional history threaten to derail his confirmation.
Hegseth, who has already secured endorsements from key Trump allies on Capitol Hill—including Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rick Scott, R-Fla.—faced a more difficult round of discussions with Republicans who appeared more cautious about his fitness for the role.
The Wednesday meetings included Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., incoming Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, several of whom had expressed concerns about supporting the appointment.
Ahead of his meeting with Hegseth, Cramer described the allegations against him as “very, very serious” and emphasized that “they can’t be trivialized.” While Cramer didn’t rule out supporting Hegseth, he hoped the meeting would reveal “that he’s redeemed… and going forward, he’s going to be better.”
Despite the growing uncertainty, Hegseth remained optimistic. “I spoke to the president this morning,” he said after meeting with Thune. “He supports me fully. We’re not going anywhere.”
Hegseth met later in the day with with Ernst, a veteran and survivor of sexual assault, who was seen as offering a potentially critical perspective. She declined to provide details about their conversation. Instead, she cited her own earlier tweet, describing their discussion as “frank and thorough,” but stopped short of indicating whether she would support his confirmation.
In addition to meeting with senators, Hegseth penned an Op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in defense of his track record, which was published on Wednesday.
“The press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down,” Hegseth wrote. “They need to create a bogeyman, because they believe I threaten their institutional insanity. That is the only thing they are right about.”
In the piece, the Fox co-host and combat veteran reiterated that he looks forward to an honest confirmation hearing.
In response to the allegations against him, Hegseth also pointed to an interview on Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s SiriusXM show, in which he addressed the settlement he had paid to a woman involved in a legal case against him. Hegseth said that, given his high-profile position, he settled in order to protect his career and family. He denied the accusation of raping a woman in California in 2017 and rejected claims of having a drinking problem.
“I did it to protect my wife, I did it to protect my family, and I did it to protect my job, and it was a negotiation,” he said in the interview.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told reporters that his meeting with Hegseth, which was scheduled for Thursday, had been cancelled and had not been rescheduled. Meanwhile, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she had a meeting planned for Tuesday, where she plans to ask Hegseth about both the sexual assault allegations and his past remarks about women serving in combat roles.
If Hegseth withdraws his name from consideration, he would become the second of Trump’s cabinet picks to do so due to concerns regarding sexual misconduct. Former Congressman Matt Gaetz previously exited after similar meetings with senators due to concerns related to the contents of an unreleased House Ethics report and allegations that he had paid a 17-year-old for sex. Gaetz has denied the allegations.
Some Republicans suggested that Trump’s remaining cabinet selections will face smoother paths to confirmation.
“I think there’s going to be deference to Trump being able to get a team put together that he feels comfortable with,” Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said.
As Indiana’s incoming governor, Braun will not have a vote in January’s confirmation hearings, but he described Hegseth’s path as “difficult” from the start, given the potential conflict between the sexual assault allegations against him and the military’s ongoing efforts to address sexual violence.
“Sometimes when you’re climbing a mountain so steep, you’re going to probably slide back,” Braun said.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that if Hegseth withdraws, Trump is considering Florida governor Ron DeSantis as his replacement. Other reports indicate that Ernst could be another potential option.
Ernst previously served in the Iowa National Guard and spent 12 months in Kuwait during the Iraq War. She currently sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“She’d be easy to confirm,” Cramer said. “If she wanted it, she’d be my first pick.”
Jonas Kalderon Blum and Coby Potischman contributed to this reporting
