Reactions poured in Social media Elsewhere, Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth was grilled by Democrats on Capitol Hill after a tense confirmation hearing that often turned personal.
“Pete Hegseth is crushing it,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer Published on X. “It's refreshing to hear someone who is relentlessly focused on warriors and killing, without playing Washington's game of forcing candidates to talk like social workers running government agencies.”
“The Senate likes to pretend that hearings are serious, deliberative acts of policy making and statesmanship, but the behavior of several Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee during Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing on Tuesday revealed the sad reality that most Senate hearings Whether it's confirmed or not, it's kabuki theater,” Bradley Devlin, the Daily Signal's politics editor, told Fox News Digital.
US Majority Leader Ned Rheon told Fox News Digital that Hegseth handled himself “fantastically.”
Democratic senator's lies and stupidity at Hegseth hearing on social media: 'A clown show'
US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during his Senate Armed Forces confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
“He conveyed a clear vision for a new day at the Pentagon in which the Department of Defense leaves behind weak vigilance and focuses on deterrence through strength,” Ryon said. “And when Democrats tried to use anonymous attacks to undermine Pete, he handled those attacks with grace. It was a really great hearing for him and left little doubt in my mind that he would be easily confirmed.”
“They didn't lay a glove on Hegseth today,” CNN political commentator Scott Jennings said. Published on X. “Why would Democrats send their dumbest members to this important committee?”
The top 5 moments from Pete Hegseth's Senate confirmation hearing
Pete Hegseth, US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill. (Alison Robert)
“This hearing made two things abundantly clear: 1. The Left remains fully committed to the disastrous, weak, and failed policies that were roundly rejected in November,” the account by former HUD Secretary Ben Carson and his wife, Candy Published on X. “It's really sad. 2. Pete Hegseth would make a great Secretary of Defense. That's the way it is.”
“While Senate Democrats were distracted by hearsay allegations and character assassinations, Pete Hegseth stayed the course on what the military is all about: killing,” Carolyn Downey, a National Review staff writer and visiting fellow at the Independent Women's Forum, told Fox News Digital.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, makes his way to meet with Sen. Ted Budd, R-Del., at the Russell Building on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (Tom Williams)
“As the daughter of a West Point graduate and an Army captain who served in Vietnam, I can say that those major goals have become subordinated to progressive political goals,” she continued. “Military academies have succumbed to awakening ideology, jeopardizing their goal of creating outstanding leaders with the intellectual, mental, and physical fortitude who can protect and defend the United States. Although Democratic lawmakers accused him of abandoning veterans, Hegseth has proven that they have always been dedicated to their well-being, not “Not only in words but in deeds.”
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Sen. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, said after the hearing that it was important to confirm Hegseth “immediately” and allow him to start as soon as possible.
“For me, it is important that he takes over immediately,” Banks told reporters.
“We can't vote to confirm him out of committee until President Trump is President Trump again. So, on January 20, the committee will meet and we'll take him out of committee… and hopefully he will immediately go to a vote.” He continued: “On the ground because we cannot wait.”
After the hearing, several Senate Democrats expressed their continued reluctance to support Hegseth and claimed he was not qualified.
Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report
