Jan. 14, 2025 - Bannon's War Room
56:36
| 
| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
| And the members of the House Armed Services know it's not working. | ||
| And we have hearing after hearing, year after year. | ||
| And here we are, decades later, describing the same problems. | ||
| The Pentagon has continuously failed audits. | ||
| The businesses that want to do business with the Pentagon have to pass an audit. | ||
| But the entity itself fails an audit. | ||
| Innovation is stalled. | ||
| Morale is down. | ||
| Standards have been weakened. | ||
| And meritocracy is less valued. | ||
| And as a result, our adversaries have been emboldened all over the world. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for change. | ||
| It is time for change. | ||
| You all have literally seen thousands of veterans as the chairman cited one amazing Medal of Honor recipient. | ||
| But we have seen thousands of veterans expressing their support for Pete. | ||
| This is a man who can reinvigorate that warrior ethos, and this is a man that will lead. | ||
| I can't imagine having a more capable partner in my position as National Security Advisor. | ||
| Pete is a man of family, of faith, and he's committed to making our country stronger again. | ||
| And most importantly, brother, I know this in my core, he will always have as a first principal the service members that are out there on the front lines for all of us at the heart of every decision he makes. | ||
| So, Senators, I urge you to support this confirmation. | ||
| It is critical that President Trump has his national security team in place for the challenges ahead, and I thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mike, for your testimony. | |
| You're in the war room, Stephen K. Bannon. | ||
| We're at Pete Hexeth's Senate confirmation hearing live. | ||
| Let's go back to the hearing. | ||
|
unidentified
|
For the next few years. | |
| Thank you both. | ||
| Two guests may stay, or I know they have other engagements and responsibilities also. | ||
| But thank you both for your testimony. | ||
| At this point, Mr. Hexeth, I'm required to ask you as a nominee a series of questions that the committee asks all civilian nominees who appear before it. | ||
| If you would, please simply respond in the affirmative or negative to each question. | ||
| Have you adhered to applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest? | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Have you assumed any duties or taken any actions that that would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process. | |
| No, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Exercising our legislative and oversight responsibilities makes it important that this committee, its subcommittees, and other appropriate committees of Congress receive testimony, briefings, reports, records, and other information from the executive branch on a timely basis. | |
| Do you agree, if confirmed, to appear and testify before this committee when requested? | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Do you agree to provide records, documents, and electronic communications in a timely manner when requested by this committee, its subcommittees, or other appropriate committees of Congress, and to consult with the requester regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial in providing and to consult with the requester regarding the basis for any good Yes, sir. | |
| Will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines established by this committee for the production of reports, records, and other information, including timely responding to hearing questions for the record? | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
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Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers in response to congressional requests? | |
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
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Will those witnesses and briefers be protected from reprisal for their testimony or briefings? | |
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All right. | |
| So at this point, Mr. Hexeth, you'll recognize for your opening statement. | ||
| Well, thank you, Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, and all the members of this committee for this opportunity today. | ||
| I'm grateful for and have learned a great deal from this advice and consent process. | ||
| Our founders knew what they were doing. | ||
| Should I be confirmed, I look forward to working with this committee, senators from both parties, to secure our nation. | ||
| I want to thank the former senator from Minnesota, Norm Coleman, for his mentorship and friendship in this process. | ||
| And the incoming National Security Advisor, Congressman, and more importantly for our purposes, Colonel Mike Walz for his powerful words. | ||
| I'm grateful to them both. | ||
| Thank you to my incredible wife, Jennifer, who has changed my life and been with me throughout this entire process. | ||
| I love you, sweetheart, and I thank God for you. | ||
| And as Jenny and I pray together every morning, All glory, regardless of the outcome, belongs to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. | ||
| His grace and mercy abounds each day. | ||
| May his will be done. | ||
| Thank you to my father, Brian, and mother, Penny, as well as our entire family, including our seven wonderful kids, Gunner, Jackson, Peter Boone, Kensington, Luke, Rex. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Sorry, it's a lot of them. | |
| And Gwendolyn. | ||
| Their future safety and security is in all of our hands. | ||
| And to all the troops and veterans watching and here in the room, Navy SEALs, Green Berets, soldiers, pilots, sailors, Marines, Gold Stars, and more, too many friends to name. | ||
| Officers, enlisted, black and white, young and old, men and women, all Americans, all warriors. | ||
| This hearing is for you. | ||
| Thank you for figuratively and literally having my back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I want to thank the authorities for their swift reaction to that outburst. | |
| State that similar interruptions will be treated in like manner. | ||
| Mr. Hexeth, you may continue. | ||
| Well, as I'll say again, thank you for figuratively and literally having my back. | ||
| I pledge to do the same for all of you. | ||
| It's an honor to come before this committee today as President Donald Trump's nominee for the Office of Secretary of Defense. | ||
| Two months ago, 77 million Americans gave President Trump a powerful mandate for change, to put America first, at home and abroad. | ||
| I want to thank President Trump for his faith in me and his selfless leadership for our republic. | ||
| The troops have no better commander-in-chief than Donald Trump. | ||
| As I've said to many of you in private meetings, when President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me... | ||
| Was to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense. | ||
| He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, warfighting, accountability, and readiness. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You may continue, sir. | |
| Returning the Pentagon back to warfighting? | ||
| That's it. | ||
| That's my job. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Hexeth, suspend your remarks. | |
| Let me just say this. | ||
| The Capitol Police are going to remove immediately individuals that are disrupting the hearing. | ||
| I see a pattern attempted to... | ||
| Be inflicted on the committee, and we're simply not going to tolerate that. | ||
| You may proceed. | ||
| To bring back warfighting, if confirmed, I'm going to work with President Trump and this committee to, one, restore the warrior ethos to the Pentagon and throughout our fighting force. | ||
| In doing so, we will reestablish trust in our military, addressing the recruiting crisis, the retention crisis, and readiness crisis In our ranks. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Members of the security force will remove members. | |
| Mr. Heseth, you may. | ||
| You may. | ||
| The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose. | ||
| Not our differences. | ||
| Number two, we're going to rebuild our military, always matching threats to capabilities. | ||
| This includes reviving our defense industrial base, reforming the acquisitions process. | ||
| As you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, no more valley of death for new defense companies. | ||
| Modernizing our nuclear triad, ensuring the Pentagon can pass an audit, and rapidly fielding emerging technologies. | ||
| And number three, we're going to reestablish deterrence. | ||
| First and foremost, we will defend our homeland, our borders, and our skies. | ||
| Second, we will work with our partners and allies to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific from the Communist Chinese. | ||
| And finally, we will responsibly end wars to ensure that we prioritize our resources to reorient to larger threats. | ||
| We can no longer count on reputational deterrence. | ||
| We need real deterrence. | ||
| The Department of Defense under Donald Trump will achieve peace through strength. | ||
| And in pursuing these America First national security goals will remain patriotically apolitical and stridently constitutional. | ||
| Unlike the current administration, politics should play no part in military matters. | ||
| We are not Republicans. | ||
| We are not Democrats. | ||
| We are American warriors. | ||
| Our standards will be high and they will be equal. | ||
| Not equitable. | ||
| That's a very different word. | ||
| We need to make sure every warrior is fully qualified on their assigned weapons system. | ||
| Every pilot's fully qualified and current on the aircraft they are flying. | ||
| And every general or flag officer is selected for leadership or promotion purely based on performance, readiness, and merit. | ||
| Leaders at all levels will be held accountable, and warfighting and lethality and the readiness of the troops and their families will be our only focus. | ||
| This has been my focus ever since I first put on the uniform as a young Army ROTC cadet at Princeton University in 2001. I joined the military because I love my country and felt an obligation to defend it. | ||
| I served with incredible Americans in Guantanamo Bay, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and on the streets of Washington, D.C., many of which are with me here today. | ||
| This includes enlisted soldiers I helped become American citizens, and Muslim allies I helped immigrate from Iraq and Afghanistan. | ||
| Because when I took off the uniform, my mission never stopped. | ||
| Now, it is true and has been acknowledged that I don't have a similar biography to defense secretaries of the last 30 years. | ||
| But as President Trump also told me, we've repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly the right credentials, whether they are retired generals, academics, or defense contractor executives. | ||
| And where has it gotten us? | ||
| He believes, and I humbly agree, that it's time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. | ||
| A change agent. | ||
| Someone with no vested interest in certain companies or specific programs or approved narratives. | ||
| My only special interest is the warfighter. | ||
| Deterring wars and if called upon winning wars by ensuring our warriors never enter a fair fight. | ||
| We let them win and we bring them home. | ||
| Like many of my generation, I've been there. | ||
| I've led troops in combat. | ||
| I've been on patrol for days. | ||
| I've pulled the trigger downrange, heard bullets whizz by, flex-cuffed insurgents, called in close air support, led medevacs, dodged IEDs, pulled out dead bodies, and knelt before a battlefield cross. | ||
| This is not academic for me. | ||
| This is my life. | ||
| I led then, and I will lead now. | ||
| Ask anyone who's ever worked for me or with me. | ||
| I know what I don't know. | ||
| My success as a leader, and I very much look forward to discussing my organization's successes at Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America. | ||
| I'm incredibly proud of the work that we've done. | ||
| But my success as a leader has always been setting a clear vision, hiring people smarter and more capable than me, empowering them to succeed, holding everyone accountable. | ||
| And driving toward clear metrics. | ||
| Build the plan, work the plan, and then work harder than everyone else around you. | ||
| I've sworn an oath to the Constitution before, and if confirmed, I will proudly do it again. | ||
| This time, for the most important deployment of my life. | ||
| I pledge to be a faithful partner to this committee, taking input and respecting oversight. | ||
| We share the same goals. | ||
| A ready, lethal military, the health and well-being of our troops, and a strong and secure America. | ||
| Thank you for the time, and I look forward to your questions. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you very much, Mr. Hegseth. | |
| Before we begin with member questions, I would like to remind my colleagues that, consistent with the bipartisan staff agreement from December, And in concert with exactly how this committee dealt with the last Secretary of Defense nominee, each member will be recognized for one round of seven minutes to question the nominee. | ||
| Out of respect for the time of all members of this committee, the time limits will be tightly enforced. | ||
| We've now been here 45 minutes and I think we've done very well with the time, but at this point I will begin my questioning of Mr. Hexas, you and your family have endured criticism of your nomination since it was announced in November. | ||
| Let's get into this allegation about sexual assault, inappropriate workplace behavior, alcohol abuse, and financial mismanagement during your time as a non-profit executive. | ||
| I should note that the majority of these have come from anonymous sources in Liberal media publications, but I want to give you an opportunity to respond to these allegations, sir Mr. Chairman, thank sir Mr. Chairman, thank you for that opportunity You are correct. | ||
| We undertook this responsibility with an obligation to the troops to do right by them for our warfighters. | ||
| And what became very evident to us from the beginning, there was a coordinated... | ||
| That was clear from moment one. | ||
| And what we knew is that it wasn't about me. | ||
| Most of it was about President Donald Trump, who's had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time. | ||
| And he endured it in incredibly strong ways. | ||
| So we, in some ways, knew it was coming. | ||
| We didn't understand the depth of the dishonesty that would come with it. | ||
| So from story after story in the media... | ||
| Left-wing media. | ||
| We saw anonymous source after anonymous source based on second or third-hand accounts. | ||
| And time and time again, stories would come out and people would reach out to me and say, you know, I've spoken to this reporter about who you really are and I was willing to go on the record. | ||
| But they didn't print my quote. | ||
| They didn't print any of my quotes. | ||
| Or I've worked with you for 10 years, or I was your accountant, or I was your chief operating officer, or I was your board member, or I was with you on a hundred different tour stops for Concerned Veterans for America. | ||
| No one called me. | ||
| No one asked about your conduct on the record or off the record. | ||
| Instead, a small handful of anonymous sources We're allowed to drive a smear campaign and agenda about me because our left-wing media in America today, sadly, doesn't care about the truth. | ||
| All they were out to do, Mr. Chairman, was to destroy me. | ||
| And why do they want to destroy me? | ||
| Because I'm a change agent and a threat to them because Donald Trump was willing to choose me, to empower me, to bring the Defense Department back to what it really should be, which is warfighting. | ||
| So I'm willing to endure these attacks. | ||
| But what I will do is stand up for the truth and for my reputation. | ||
| False attacks, anonymous attacks, repeated ad nauseum, printed as nauseum, as facts, we have provided to the committee, Mr. Chairman, and I know you're going to share. | ||
| On the record statement after on the record statement from people who have served with me, worked with me at Fox News, Concerned Vets, Vets for Freedom, you name it. | ||
| From the top of the chain to the bottom. | ||
| Who will say I treat them with respect, with kindness, with dignity? | ||
| That's men, that's women, that's black, that's white, that's every background. | ||
| I have prided myself as a leader of respecting people, being professional. | ||
| That is the balance of mind. | ||
| I'm not a perfect person, as has been acknowledged. | ||
| Saved by the grace of God, by Jesus and Jenny. | ||
| I'm not a perfect person, but redemption is real. | ||
| And God forged me in ways that I know I'm prepared for. | ||
| And I'm honored by the people standing and sitting behind me and look forward to leading this Pentagon on behalf of the warfighters. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Hegseth. | |
| And frankly, I'm sure there are millions of Americans watching who would agree that they've experienced that same sort of redemption. | ||
| So I do appreciate that. | ||
| I realize that it involves a little bearing of the soul, but thank you for that. | ||
| Now let's talk about... | ||
| I have a plan. | ||
| I think you've read it. | ||
| I've issued another plan, Freedom's Forge, which you've also had a chance to look at. | ||
| And you have noted correctly that the current trend line of defense spending, falling below 3% of our GDP, is a threat to national security. | ||
| You also said building the strongest and most powerful military in the world must be done responsibly. | ||
| But it cannot be done on the cheap. | ||
| You still agree with that, do you not? | ||
| Yes, sir, I do. | ||
| So, tell us what you think about, particularly about my plan to make the Defense Department less bureaucratic, less top-heavy, cut out some of the bureaucracy and layers, make it more friendly to startups and to new ideas. | ||
| Contained in my 20 or so page white paper, Defending Freedoms Forge. | ||
| Senator, I've had a chance to review the Forged Act, that paper. | ||
| Those are precisely the kinds of ideas that need to be pursued. | ||
| And I look forward to working with this committee to ensure we cut the red tape, we incentivize innovation, we rebuild the defense industrial base, cut out the bureaucracy, all the things that are preventing the platforms and the tools from getting rapidly from our... | ||
| Great defense companies here that should, and those that want to compete, into the hands of warfighters. | ||
| But past his prologue on this, sir, I would just look at what President Trump did after the drawdowns of lead from behind under President Obama. | ||
| President Trump rebuilt our military. | ||
| He didn't start wars, he ended them. | ||
| And he didn't allow wars to start on his watch. | ||
| We've had the same kind of defense cuts under the Biden administration. | ||
| And so, look, I would present to the committee the reputation of President Donald Trump and me coming alongside him to ensure we have peace through strength by rebuilding our military, investing as necessary. | ||
| Going under 3%, Mr. Chairman, is very dangerous. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay, we've got 45 seconds. | |
| Tell us, in that point, get us started at least talking about deterring China and the Indo-Pacific. | ||
| It starts with... | ||
| Priorities. | ||
| The 2017 National Defense Strategy was the first step in reorienting away from simply entanglement in the Middle East, which our generation knows a lot about, and reorienting the behemoth that is the Pentagon toward new priorities, specifically the Indo-Pacific. | ||
| So that strategy has started and was barely followed through on under the Biden administration. | ||
| So we're going to start by ensuring the institution understands that as far as threats abroad, the CCP is front and center. | ||
| Also, obviously, defending our homeland as well. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you very much, Senator Reid. | |
| You're recognized. | ||
| Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| Before I begin my questioning, I would like to make three requests. | ||
| First, many of my members would like a second round. | ||
| That has been the custom. | ||
| Senator Hagel was afforded three rounds. | ||
| Senator Ash Carter, two rounds. | ||
| And that was done by a Republican chairman with the consent and the appropriate guidance of Democrats. | ||
| I must say, too, my recollection is I've never denied anyone the opportunity to ask the second round of questions as I cheered. | ||
| I will request the second round. | ||
| And my time is running. | ||
| I think these are... | ||
| Oh, yeah, you're using your time. | ||
| No, if the timekeeper will pause the... | ||
| I must say, I think we're going to have adequate time for questioning. | ||
| I know Democrat members have coordinated their questions as much as we have. | ||
| We're following the same exact precedent on all things that we did with Secretary Austin. | ||
| I respectfully understand what you're saying, but I think we have an agreement. | ||
| It's been known for quite some time, and I intend to stick with that agreement which we made last December. | ||
| What is your second request? | ||
| Second, as been publicly reported, you and I have both seen the FBI background investigation, as Mr. Hicks said, and I want to say for the record, I believe the investigation was insufficient, frankly. | ||
| There are still FBI... Obligations to talk to people. | ||
| They have not had access to the forensic audit, which I referenced to, and the person who had access to was quite critical of Mr. Hickson. | ||
| I think people on both sides have suggested that they get the report. | ||
| I know your colleagues have asked for it. | ||
| Senator Thune assured me personally that he thought it was an appropriate idea. | ||
| So I would ask, and I would say too, as a president, one of President Trump's appointees had similar very complicated personal issues. | ||
| The report was made available to all the members of the committee. | ||
| We would be following precedent, and I ask that that be made possible. | ||
| Again, we are... | ||
| There's been much discussion about this, and what I intend to do is follow... | ||
| The exact precedent that we've had for the last two hearings with regard to Secretaries of Defense. | ||
| Not only Secretary Austin, but Secretary Mattis eight years ago. | ||
| And that was for the chair and the ranking member to see the report. | ||
| And so that is my intention as chair of this committee. | ||
| Finally, Mr. Chairman, I have several letters that I would include for the record. | ||
| One from Count Every Hero, which is an organization of retired four-star generals and former Secretary of Defense that is critical of the proposed purge panels. | ||
| One from an organization for domestic violence. | ||
| One for a Council on American Relations. | ||
| And also, excuse me, and also several letters that raise questions. | ||
| I would ask they be submitted for the record. | ||
| Without objection, they will be submitted. | ||
| And Mr. Reid, your time is now expired. | ||
| Just kidding. | ||
| You're recognized for seven minutes. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| You're a very understanding chairman. | ||
| I like that. | ||
| I like that. | ||
| Ms. Hegg said, you've written in its quote, oh yeah, and fire any general who isn't carried water for Obama and Biden's extra constitution, an agenda-driven transformation for our military. | ||
| Clean house and start over. | ||
| It's come to my attention that current serving military personnel have received emails threatening them with being fired for supporting the current DOD policies. | ||
| One mail that was sent to a military officer with the subject line, clean house, reminiscent of your specific comment, states, and I quote, with the incoming administration looking to remove disloyal, corrupt, traitorous, liberal officers such as yourself, we will certainly be putting your name into the list of those personnel to be removed. | ||
| We know you support the woke DEI policies and will ensure you never again influence anyone in the future. | ||
| You and the redacted spouse's name will be lucky if you're able to collect your military requirement, end quote. | ||
| Now, I want to remind everyone that these policies that are being referred to date back decades, so the 1940s and 50s with respect to racial discrimination particularly, And administrations of both parties, including the Trump administration and their first party, caused those policies to be enforced. | ||
| Mr. Hegg said, are you aware of these emails being sent to officers? | ||
| Senator, you mentioned the word accountability, which is something we have not had for the last four years. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Are you aware of these messages being sent to officers? | |
| Certainly I'm not aware of that. | ||
| It's not one of my efforts, but... | ||
| There's been no accountability for the disaster of the withdrawal in Afghanistan. | ||
| And that's precisely why we're here today, is that leadership has been unwilling to take accountability. | ||
| It's the time to restore that to our most senior ranks. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You've written publicly that DI policy is a distraction and have military personnel walking on edge shelves. | |
| Do you believe that emails like that, that are essentially threatening both a serving officer and a spouse and... | ||
| Claiming that they'll lose their pension will have a distraction and detract from the lethality? | ||
| Senator, you mentioned the 40s and 50s, and you're precisely right. | ||
| The military was a forerunner in courageous racial integration. | ||
| In ways no other institutions were willing to do. | ||
| I served with men and women of all backgrounds because of the courage of people decades and decades ago. | ||
| Incredibly important. | ||
| However, the DEI policies of today are not the same as what happened back then. | ||
| They're dividing troops inside formations, causing commanders to walk on eggshells, not putting meritocracy first. | ||
| That's the indictment that's made by those serving right now and why we're having this conversation. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All of your public comments don't talk about meritocracy. | |
| They talk about liberal democratic efforts that are destroying the military, that those people are our enemies. | ||
| That's not meritocracy. | ||
| That's a political view. | ||
| And your goal, as I see emerging, is to politicize the military in favor of your particular positions, which you've outlined extensively, which would be the worst blow to the professionalism of the United States military and would undercut readiness, which would be the worst blow to the professionalism of the United Because I can see officers receiving these emails beginning to wonder very seriously if they should continue. | ||
| Let me change subjects for a moment here. | ||
| uh... | ||
| You've been instrumental in securing pardons for several convicted war criminals. | ||
| In at least two of these cases, the military personnel who served in combat with these convicted service members were not supportive of the pardons. | ||
| They did their duty as soldiers to report war crimes. | ||
| Your definition of lethality seems to embrace those people who do commit war crimes rather than those who stand up and say, this is not right. | ||
| I personally witnessed these and courageously reported them to their superiors. | ||
| Senator, as someone who's led men in combat directly and had to make very difficult decisions, I've thought very deeply about the balance between legality and lethality, ensuring that the men and women on the front lines have the opportunity to destroy with and close the enemy and that lawyers aren't the ones getting in the way. | ||
| I'm not talking about disavowing the laws of war. | ||
| Or the Geneva Conventions or the Uniform Code of Military Justice. | ||
| Sir, I'm talking about restrictive rules of engagement that these men and women behind me understand they've lived with on the battlefield, which has made it more difficult to defeat our enemies. | ||
| In many of the cases you're talking about in particular, sir, there was evidence withheld. | ||
| There was process prosecutorial misconduct and as someone who looks case by case and defaults to the warfighter to the men and women with dust on their boots Not the second-guessers in air-conditioned offices in Washington DC I look at case by case and was proud to work with President Trump to understand those cases and ensure That our warriors are always looked out for those cases were adjudicated were By adjudicated by who? | ||
|
unidentified
|
People in Washington or fellow non-commissioned officers who had also served, sacrificed, and believed in the ethic of the military? | |
| Who were the court? | ||
| Who were the court marshal? | ||
| Senator, in multiple cases, they were actually acquitted. | ||
| In some cases, yes. | ||
| Regardless of where those convening authorities were, yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Some were, but others were convicted, and you asked for a pardon. | |
| That's the only reason you asked for a pardon, because they were convicted. | ||
| But the other factor, too, is you've already disparaged in writing the Geneva Convention, the rules of law, all of these things. | ||
| How will you be able to effectively lead a military in which one of the principal elements is discipline, respect for lawful authority? | ||
| You have made statements to your platoon after being briefed by a JAG officer. | ||
| By the way, would you explain what a JAG-off is? | ||
| I don't think I need to, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Why not? | |
| Because the men and women watching understand. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, perhaps some of my colleagues don't understand. | |
| It would be a JAG officer who puts his or her own priorities in front of the warfighters. | ||
| Their promotions, their medals in front of having the backs of those who are making the tough calls on the front lines. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Senator. | |
| Interesting. | ||
| Thank you, Senator. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| Senator Fisher. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome, Mr. Higseth, to you and to your family. | ||
| Thank you for the meeting that we had. | ||
| We talked about a number of things. | ||
| First and foremost was that nuclear weapons are foundational to our national defense, and having a safe, effective, and credible nuclear deterrent underpins our alliances and, as you know, deters our adversaries. | ||
| Nuclear deterrence has been, and you and I, I believe, agreed on this. | ||
| It must continue to be unequivocally the highest priority mission of the Department of Defense. | ||
| But deterrence only works if our adversaries believe our nuclear forces are effective and credible. | ||
| All three legs of our triad are undergoing that generational recapitalization programs, and we cannot afford. | ||
| Any more delays in those programs. | ||
| Sir, do you believe and agree with President Trump's 2018 nuclear posture review that preventing adversary nuclear attacks is, quote, the highest priority of the United States? | ||
| Senator, yes, I do. | ||
|
unidentified
|
If confirmed, will you commit to supporting all three legs? | |
| of the nuclear triad and using every tool available to deliver these systems on schedule. | ||
| Senator, yes I do because ultimately our deterrence, our survival is reliant upon the capability, the perception and the reality of the capability of our nuclear triad. | ||
| We have to invest in its modernization for the defense of our nation. | ||
|
unidentified
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While former Secretaries of Defense have stated that nuclear deterrence is the highest priority, we haven't really seen that translated into budget requests or using the tools like the Defense Production Act. | |
| You've spoken about increasing lethality. | ||
| You've spoken about getting programs done faster. | ||
| How would you actually implement a culture change so that we can see these delivery schedules move forward, be rewarded? | ||
| I can tell you in most every briefing we have, the schedules we're on are too late. | ||
| So what would you do? | ||
| Well, ultimately focused first on the things that are most important, as we have discussed, Senator, the nuclear triad. | ||
| Understanding whether it's the B-21, the Minuteman to the Sentinel. | ||
| Got to be quick. | ||
| Okay, you can bring the camera in. | ||
| Or just put me on the side right now. | ||
| We're going to do some... | ||
| Okay, there we are. | ||
| That's Senator Deb Fischer from Nebraska asking questions about the nuclear triad. | ||
| We're going to go back as soon as the Democrats... | ||
| Look, it's Days of Thunder, the preamble. | ||
| Pete Hexeth, who has been kind of a relentless onslaught, both from the audience and from the Democrats. | ||
| Senator Jack Reed, I think was an Army officer. | ||
| A scathing opening statement. | ||
| We're going to try to play clips from that later. | ||
| Attacking Pete Hexas' character, his support of, he said, war criminals, of trashing people in the Pentagon. | ||
| Look, Pete Hexas is an agent of change. | ||
| This is going to be a very intense hearing. | ||
| They've already asked for the Democrats. | ||
| Jack Reed has already asked for... | ||
| Two days. | ||
| He's asked for an extension into tomorrow or maybe Thursday that has not been granted. | ||
| For the audience, understand that this is the kickoff to these confirmation hearings, and they are going to come hard for President Trump's nominees. | ||
| They're going to come hard for Pete Hegseth. | ||
| They're going to come hard for Tulsi Gabbard. | ||
| They're going to come hard for Bobby Kennedy. | ||
| They're going to come hard for Kash Patel. | ||
| And, folks, they've already scheduled two days for Pam Bondi. | ||
| Pam Bondi, who is really a compromise from Gates, and obviously we love Pam. | ||
| We've known her for a long time. | ||
| They've already scheduled two days for Pam Bondi, so I don't think Pam Bondi's going to get it. | ||
| They're going to come hard at Pam Bondi over two days. | ||
| We're going to try to cover this this week as much as we can here in War Room, and Real America's voice is going to be dipping in and out. | ||
| What I want to do is we're going to go back, because I think it's very instructive for the audience to see the angle of attack that Democrats are going to come at to Trump. | ||
| Pete Hexeth is really an agent of change. | ||
| And what I mean by that is Pete was a junior officer who served in combat, led troops in combat. | ||
| He's got the warrior ethos. | ||
| This was laid out by Mike Waltz, who I think is a lieutenant colonel in a Green Beret, who's the national security advisor for President Trump. | ||
| And he laid out the warrior ethos. | ||
| What President Trump's looking for is a radical kind of shake-up over the Pentagon. | ||
| We don't fight wars to win wars. | ||
| It's very much just a bunch of military bureaucrats. | ||
| It's infected with this DEI, all this nonsense of DEI, and infects it. | ||
| And General Jack Keene... | ||
| And I love General Keene, a really great man, a strong guy, said, oh, you know, we don't need Pete. | ||
| You need somebody else that DEI can be taken. | ||
| Just President gives an order. | ||
| The building will implement it. | ||
| General, I beg to differ. | ||
| I think you've got to take this and get it out root and branch. | ||
| Pete Hex is the guy to do that. | ||
| Like I said, Denver and my own crack production team is going to give me a heads up. | ||
| As soon as we go back to Democrats, I want it because I want you to see this is the kickoff of how they're going to handle President Trump's nominees. | ||
| And it's not going to be fair, right? | ||
| Nobody said this had to be fair. | ||
| It should be. | ||
| I mean, what it should be is very even-handed because it's advice and consent. | ||
| They're not going to look at it like this. | ||
| They're going to look at it as political warfare. | ||
| Their belief is President Trump does not get his selection of cabinet officials he wants to work for him. | ||
| They believe this is an opening salvo. | ||
| I would say, actually, the way they're going to confront President Trump every day and really kick off to the 2026 midterms because they intend to take the House and impeach President Trump. | ||
| You know that's coming. | ||
| So, one, they're not going to take the House, but this is their intention. | ||
| Today, you're going to see throughout the day, and I think this could go particularly if they want to stop it today and not have an additional day. | ||
| This could go to 8 or 9 o'clock tonight, or maybe even later, if they stick to this, that they want to go through multiple rounds today and let everybody get their questions out. | ||
| And I would strongly recommend that. | ||
| Senator Wicker from Mississippi is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. | ||
| As folks know, the South, particularly on the Senate side, coming from that history of Senator Stennis and others, have a very strong... | ||
| Very strong influence on the Senate and the House Armed Services Committee. | ||
| The House Armed Services Committee is Congressman Rogers from Alabama, Wicker from Mississippi. | ||
| Of course, Wicker, the ever-perceptive Jack Posobiec put out there that Wicker, if you notice when you cut to it, Wicker and Jack, if you go to the, and I think I've got it up on social media right now, Grace helped me get it up while we were doing the show here, is that Wicker's got an American flag on its lapel, but he's also got a Ukrainian flag. | ||
| And what I put up on social media, this shows you what President Trump's up against. | ||
| The embedded infrastructure in the House and the Senate is 100%. | ||
| The neocons and the warmongers are 100% down with continuing on in Ukraine. | ||
| We've put out, I think Kerry Donovan wrote up last night the clips from yesterday's show where we tried to say, hey, look, we've seen Mike Waltz's comments on Fox over the weekend. | ||
| We've seen... | ||
| Oh, let's go to the Democrat right now. | ||
| Let's cut to this right away. | ||
| Go to the Democrat. | ||
| Let's cut back to the hearing. | ||
|
unidentified
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...to be Secretary of Defense from three administrations, two Democratic and one Republican. | |
| The first Trump administration. | ||
| Every one of those nominees met with me and my Democratic colleagues on this committee before the hearing. | ||
| So, as you can imagine, I was disappointed when no one ever followed up. | ||
| When we followed up with your office, you were not able to meet. | ||
| Do you understand that... | ||
| If you're confirmed to be Secretary of Defense, that you will have a responsibility to meet with all members of this committee, not just Republicans? | ||
| Senator, I very much appreciate and understand the traditionally bipartisan nature of this committee. | ||
| Their national defense is not... | ||
| It should not be about Republicans or Democrats. | ||
| And so I look forward to working together with you and your colleagues on priorities facing this nation. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes. | |
| I think we would expect that. | ||
| And one reason that I wanted to meet with you was because I thought it would be really helpful to better understand your views on women in the military. | ||
| Because you've made a number of surprising statements about women serving in the military. | ||
| As recently as November the 7th of 2024 on the Sean Ryan Show, you said, and I quote, I'm straight up saying that we should not have women in combat roles. | ||
| It hasn't made us more effective. | ||
| The quote went on a little longer, but that was the gist of it. | ||
| That was before you were nominated to be Secretary of Defense. | ||
| Mr. Hegseth, do you know what percentage of our military is comprised of women? | ||
| I believe it's 18 to 20 percent, Senator. | ||
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unidentified
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It's almost 18 percent. | |
| And in fact, DOD's 2023 demographic report indicated that there are more women serving now and there are fewer separations. | ||
| So they make up a critical part of our military. | ||
| Wouldn't you agree? | ||
| Yes, ma'am. | ||
| Women in our military, as I have said publicly, have and continue to make amazing contributions across all aspects of our battlefield. | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, you also write in your book, The War on Warriors, with the chapter, The Deadly Obsession with Women Warriors, that, quote, not only are women comparatively less effective than men in combat roles, but they are more likely to be objectified by the enemy and their own nation in the moral realms of war. | |
| Mr. Hegseth? | ||
| Should we take it to believe that you believe that the two women on this committee who have served honorably and with distinction made our military less effective and less capable? | ||
| I'm incredibly grateful for the two women who've served our military in uniform and including in the Central Intelligence Agency contributions on the battlefield. | ||
| Indispensable contribution. | ||
| Senator, I would like to clarify, when I'm talking about that issue, it's not about the capabilities of men and women, it's about standards. | ||
| And this committee has talked a lot about standards. | ||
| Standards that we, unfortunately, over time, have seen eroded in certain duty positions, certain schools, certain places, which affects readiness, which is what I care about the most. | ||
|
unidentified
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Readiness on the battlefield. | |
| I appreciate that. | ||
| And so, my comments point time and time again to standards. | ||
|
unidentified
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Statements publicly have not been to that effect. | |
| After your nomination, you did state to a group of reporters that you, quote, support all women serving in our military today who do a fantastic job across the globe, including combat. | ||
| So what I'm confused about, Mr. Hegseth, is which is it? | ||
| Why should women in our military, if you were the Secretary of Defense, Believe that they would have a fair shot and an equal opportunity to rise through the ranks. | ||
| If on the one hand, you say that women are not competent, they make our military less effective, and on the other hand, you say, oh no, now that I've been nominated to be the Secretary of Defense, I've changed my view on women in the military. | ||
| What do you have to say to the... | ||
| Almost 400,000 women who are serving today about your position on whether they should be capable to rise through the highest ranks of our military. | ||
| Senator, I would say I would be honored to have the opportunity to serve alongside you, shoulder to shoulder, men and women, black, white, all backgrounds, with a shared purpose. | ||
| Our differences are not what define us. | ||
| Our unity and our shared purpose is what define us. | ||
| And you will be treated fairly and with dignity, honor, and respect, just like every man and woman in uniform. | ||
| Just like the men and women that I've worked with in my veterans organizations, to include when I was a headquarters and headquarters company commander in the Minnesota National Guard. | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, I appreciate your 11th hour conversion. | |
| But, Mr. Chairman, for the record, I would like to submit Chapter 5, The Deadly Obsession with Women Warriors, for the record. | ||
| Mr. Hexeth? | ||
| Without objection, it will be submitted. | ||
| Are you familiar with the Women, Peace and Security agenda at the Department of Defense? | ||
| Yes, ma'am, I am. | ||
|
unidentified
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This is a law that was signed during President-elect Trump's first term. | |
| It was legislation that I sponsored with Republican Senator Capito of West Virginia. | ||
| It was co-sponsored by Marco Rubio, the nominee to be the President-elect's Secretary of State. | ||
| It was led in the House of Representatives by Kristi Noem, the President-elect's nominee to be the Secretary of Homeland Security. | ||
| It mandates that women be included in all aspects of our national security, including conflict resolution and peace negotiations. | ||
| And at the Department of Defense, it has been the law for eight years under both the Trump and Biden administrations. | ||
| The DOD has incorporated women throughout its decision-making as a result. | ||
| Every single combatant commander across two administrations has told this committee that this law and its implementation at the Department of Defense provides them a strategic advantage operationally. | ||
| Based on your comments, it appears that the example that you would like to set, not only for women in this country, but for women across the globe, The entire world is that women should not have an equal opportunity in our military. | ||
| So will you commit to preserving the Women, Peace, and Security law at DOD and including in your budget the requisite funding to continue to restore and resource these programs throughout the DOD? Senator, I will commit to reviewing that program. | ||
| And ensuring it aligns with America First national security priorities, meritocracy, lethality, and readiness. | ||
| And if it advances American interests, it's something we would advance. | ||
| If it doesn't, it's something we would look at. | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, since former President Trump signed the law, I hope that he agrees with you. | |
| Thank you, Senator Shaheen. | ||
| At this point, I would ask unanimous consent to enter into the record five letters of support from female service members and combat veterans who support Mr. Hegseth's nomination. | ||
| These women represent diverse viewpoints from a retired colonel with over 25 years of service to an active duty Navy surface warfare commander to a senior airman. | ||
| They support Mr. Hegseth and comment on his focus on merit warfighting readiness, military training status, and the warrior ethos. | ||
| So without objection, it will be entered into the record. | ||
| And now I'm honored to recognize Senator Cotton for seven minutes. | ||
| Mr. Hegseth, let's continue on this line of questioning about what's sometimes referred to as women in combat. | ||
| I think that phrase is something of a misnomer. | ||
| Many members of this committee have served in combat in the last 25 years, to include women. | ||
| And men. | ||
| I'm sure all those men served with women, whether they were military police officers or they were pilots or whether they were intelligence analysts or medics or what have you. | ||
| You served. | ||
| I assume you served with women who were on the front lines as well. | ||
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unidentified
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Is that correct? | |
| Yes, sir. | ||
| And were those women anything other than skilled, brave, and honorable in their service? | ||
| They were some of the best soldiers I worked with. | ||
| So women have been serving in combat for a long time. | ||
| Women have even been serving in... | ||
| Combat units like infantry battalions for a long time and roles like medics or mechanics or what have you. | ||
| So what we're talking about here specifically is women in ground combat roles in jobs like infantrymen or artillerymen or special forces. | ||
| Until about 10 years ago, that wasn't the case. | ||
| Under Secretary Panetta, those roles were opened up to women to serve in. | ||
| Has President Trump indicated at all that he plans to rescind or alter that guidance? | ||
| You're correct to point out, Senator, that these are the decisions... | ||
| What they do, let me just explain to you. | ||
| I should have done it earlier, I'm sorry. | ||
| He has not indicated to me that he has plans to change whether or not women would have access to these roles. | ||
| However, I would point out, ensuring that standards are equal and high is of importance to him and great importance to me. | ||
| Because in those ground combat roles... | ||
| What is true is that the weight of the ruck on your back doesn't change. | ||
| The weight of the 155 round that you have to carry doesn't change. | ||
| The weight of the 240 Bravo machine gun you might have to carry doesn't change. | ||
| And so whether it's a man or a woman, they have to meet the same high standards. | ||
| And Senator, in any place where those things have been eroded or in courses, criteria have been changed in order to meet quotas. | ||
| Racial quotas or gender quotas, that is putting a focus on something other than readiness, standards, meritocracy, and lethality. | ||
| So that's the kind of review I'm talking about, not whether women have access to ground combat. | ||
| Okay, so thank you. | ||
| So you expect no change to that guidance, but as you point out, in these specific jobs, there are irreducible physical demands. | ||
| We expect our intelligence analysts and our mechanics to be physically fit in the military. | ||
| But it's different when you're in the infantry or the artillery. | ||
| You just mentioned a few things. | ||
| Let me point it out. | ||
| An artillery shell weighs almost 100 pounds. | ||
| An Abrams tank round weighs around 50 pounds. | ||
| The M240 Bravo machine gun with its tripod weighs almost 50 pounds. | ||
| The average weight of a full kit, ammo, water, commo, body armor for a soldier is over 100 pounds. | ||
| Nothing you can do can change any of those things, right? | ||
| That is physical reality. | ||
| Go ahead. | ||
| Yes, Senator. | ||
| And I would say the requirements to handle those things in a ground combat unit, as far as standards, can look different than those of a medic or a drone pilot. | ||
| And so it's not that it has to be the same standard throughout. | ||
| It's standards to maximize efficacy. | ||
| Let me read a quote here from one Army officer. | ||
| While it may be difficult for a 120-pound woman to lift or drag 250 pounds, the Army cannot artificially absolve women of that responsibility. | ||
| It may still exist on the battlefield. | ||
| The entire purpose of creating a gender-neutral test was to acknowledge the reality that each job has objective physical standards to which all soldiers should be held, regardless of gender. | ||
| The intent was not to ensure that women and men will have an equal likelihood of meeting those standards. | ||
| I assume, based on your testimony, you agree with that Army officer? | ||
| Sir. | ||
| Absolutely. | ||
| The standards need to be the same, and they need to be high. | ||
| And they need to be set by the people closest to the problem set, closest to the understanding of what is required by that job. | ||
| Commanders, commanding officers, and co-coms and elsewhere who understand the reality of what they face, that's the feedback we should get. | ||
| That's what should be enshrined and enforced. | ||
| And no other set of political prerogatives, when I talk about removing politics, ideological or political prerogatives should contribute to those determinations. | ||
| Nothing other than... | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| For the record, that Army officer was Captain Kristen Greast, the Army's first female infantry officer and one of its first female ranger school graduates. | ||
| One final point. | ||
| You said they need to be objective, gender neutral, and high. | ||
| That's because the demands are, in fact, very high. | ||
| The current physical fitness test for the Army has a minimum two-mile run of 22 miles. | ||
| Run. | ||
| I want the reporter to note that I'm putting run in air quotes because 22 miles at two miles is not running. | ||
| It may be jogging. | ||
| It's probably walking fast. | ||
| Let's move on. | ||
| We've got a big audience here. | ||
| Many of them seem to be patriotic supporters of you, Mr. Hexeth. | ||
| Some of them seem to be liberal critics of you. | ||
| I would note that it's only... | ||
| The liberal critics that have disrupted this hearing, as was my custom during the Biden administration, I want to give you a chance to respond to what they said about you. | ||
| I think the first one accused you of being a Christian Zionist. | ||
| I'm not really sure why that is a bad thing. | ||
| I'm a Christian. | ||
| I'm a Zionist. | ||
| Zionism is that the Jewish people deserve a homeland in the ancient holy land where they've lived since the dawn of history. | ||
| Do you consider yourself a Christian Zionist? | ||
| Senator, I am a Christian, and I robustly support the state of Israel and its existential defense and the way America comes alongside them as their great ally. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Because another protester, and I think this one was a member of Code Pink, which, by the way, is a Chinese communist front group these days, said that you support Israel's war in Gaza. | ||
| I support Israel's existential war in Gaza. | ||
| I assume... | ||
| Like me and President Trump, you support that war as well, don't you? | ||
| Senator, I do. | ||
| I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas. | ||
| And the third protester said something about 20 years of genocide. | ||
| I assume that's our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. | ||
| Do you think our troops are committing genocide in Iraq and Afghanistan? | ||
| Senator, I do not. | ||
| I think our troops, as you know, as so many in this committee know, did the best they could with what they had. | ||
| We're not the outcomes. | ||
| And tragically, the outcome we saw in Afghanistan under the Biden administration put a stain on that, but it doesn't put a stain on what those men and women did in uniform, as you know full well, Senator. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Exeth. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you, Senator Cotton. |
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