After meeting with Hegseth, GOP senators rally behind Trump’s defense secretary pick

By Michael C. Bender

Vice President-elect JD Vance brought two of Donald Trump’s potential Cabinet members to the Senate this week to shore up support for the president-elect’s picks, but he’s leaving with only one.

Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration as the next attorney general Thursday amid allegations of sexual misconduct, one day after Vance tried to muster support for him on Capitol Hill. His withdrawal came less than 45 minutes after another embattled Cabinet pick, Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice for defense secretary, faced a direct question about his own sexual assault accusations.

After finishing meetings with senators in Vance’s office, Hegseth, a Fox News anchor, emerged from behind closed doors and told reporters that he looked forward to the confirmation process. A reporter immediately brought up the 2017 allegations of sexual misconduct, asking: “Did you sexually assault a woman in Monterey, California?”

“As far as the media is concerned, I’ll keep this very simple,” Hegseth replied. “The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared. And that’s where I’m going to leave it.”

Concerns about Hegseth’s path to confirmation grew Wednesday night when a newly released police report provided graphic details about a 2017 sexual encounter, which Hegseth maintains was consensual.

On Thursday, some Republican senators defended Hegseth, emphasizing that no charges were filed in the case. After meeting with him in Vance’s Senate office, Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee attributed the allegations to “the media’s focus on personal attacks,” calling Hegseth “the right guy to inspire the Pentagon.”

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chair of the Armed Services Committee, referred to accusations as “press reports.”

“I think he’s going to be in pretty good shape,” Wicker said after meeting with Hegseth for roughly 20 minutes.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, a member of the Armed Serves Committee, said that Hegseth was “going to be just fine.”

“There’s a reason why President Trump trusts him,” Mullin told reporters after his meeting. “As he goes through this process, you’re going to hear more and more about actually what took place, and you guys will find out that the guy is a solid, solid individual.”

And Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, elected to serve as the No. 2 Republican in the next Congress, said in a statement that after meeting with Hegseth that he had found him “a strong nominee to lead the Department of Defense.”

“I look forward to Pete’s hearing and a vote on the floor in January,” Barrasso said.

Several Republicans shrugged off the 2017 police report. “That’s hearsay,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said of the report, adding: “We’re not going to decide based on pieces of the story.”

Asked if he was concerned about the details in the police report, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said: “Listen, he denies it; he says there’s been no wrongdoing.”

Cabinet nominees are subject to approval by the Senate, and Republicans will control the chamber in the new Congress starting in January, though Trump has suggested he would like to circumvent the confirmation process by using recess appointments. It is not clear whether senators will concede to that plan or whether Trump might resort to a novel maneuver to force it.

Trump has told advisers he is standing by Hegseth as his pick despite the sexual assault allegation. Hegseth’s lawyer said Sunday that in 2020, his client had paid the woman an undisclosed amount because Hegseth was afraid to lose his job at Fox News if the allegation became public.