Hegseth says the hearing went 'great'
Hegseth walked out of the hearing room unsmiling with furrowed brows, only turning his head as reporters called out to him.
When asked how the hearing went, Hegseth gave a thumbs-up and said, "Great!"
Hegseth hearing is over
The confirmation hearing is now over. As the room got to its feet, a crowd of Republican senators came over to shake Hegseth's hand.
Hegseth says he does pushups in sets of 47 in an apparent nod to Trump
During a lightning round of trivia questions from Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL who just won his first term last fall, the senator asked Hegseth how many pushups he could do.
Hegseth replied he did five sets of 47 pushups this morning. The pair moved on to other questions, but a reminder: Trump will be America's 47th president when he takes office next week.
Sheehy asks Hegseth about 'war-fighters' and sympathizes on 'smears'
Sen. Tim Sheehy, the final senator to address Hegseth, wrapped the hearing with a series of questions about rank-and-file knowledge he said helped display an understanding of “what the war-fighter deals with.”
He asked one question about the diameter of a round fired out of a particular kind of rifle, one question about the most important strategic bases in the Pacific, and another about what kind of batteries go in night-vision goggles.
Sheehy said Hegseth’s replies “show you understand what the war-fighter deals with every single day in the battlefield.”
He also appeared to sympathize with Hegseth regarding the allegations made against him.
“I don’t care, frankly, what all these letters and articles say,” Sheehy said. “I’ve been a part of a smear campaign, too. I get it.” That appeared to be a reference to allegations made against Sheehy during his Senate campaign last year.
Asked if drinking and strip club allegations are 'true or false,' Hegseth calls them 'anomyous smears'
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., is asking Hegseth to simply label “true or false” many of the allegations made against him. Hegseth, however, is refusing to do so, calling each of the claims only “anonymous smears.”
“On Memorial Day 2014 at a CVA event in Virginia, you needed to be carried out of the event for being intoxicated,” Kelly said.
“Anonymous smears,” Hegseth replied.
“An event in North Carolina, drunk in front of three young female staff-members, after you had instituted a no alcohol policy and then reversed it, true or false,” Kelly said.
“Anonymous smears,” Hegseth said.
The pattern continued, as Kelly mentioned several other allegations.
“While in Louisiana on official business for CVA, did you take your staff, including young female staff members to a strip club?” Kelly said.
“Absolutely not — anonymous smears,” Hegseth said.
“Is it accurate that the organization reached a financial settlement with a female staffer who claimed to be at a strip club with and there was a colleague who attempted to sexually assault her? Was there a financial settlement?” Kelly asked.
“Senator, I’m not involved in that,” Hegseth said.
A whistleblower report detailed in The New Yorker alleged repeated instances of Hegseth drinking heavily at work events, including a team outing to a strip club in Louisiana in November 2014 in which he became so inebriated that he “had to be restrained” from climbing onstage to dance with the strippers.
Kelly concluded by noting that Hegseth has said both that he has overcome personal struggles and that he is the victim of anonymous smears — claiming that both can’t be true.
“Which is it? Have you overcome personal issues? Or are you the target of a smear campaign? It can’t be both. It’s clear to me that you’re not being honest with us, or the American people, because you know the truth would disqualify you from getting the job,” Kelly said.
“What concerns me just as much is the idea of defense who is not transparent,” he added.
Slotkin pushes Hegseth on whether he'd let Trump use military against Americans
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., asked Hegseth if he would follow an illegal order, or order going against the U.S. Constitution, if Trump gave one.
"Should President Trump give an illegal order, right, I'm not saying he will, but if he does, you are going to be the guy that he calls to implement this order. Do you agree that there are some orders that can be given by the commander in chief that would violate the U.S. Constitution?" asked Slotkin, who was sworn into office less two weeks ago.
Hegseth immediately rebuffed the question, telling Slotkin, "I reject the premise that President Trump is going to be giving illegal orders."
Slotkin doubled down, referencing claims from Trump's Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper that Trump asked him whether uniformed military could shoot unarmed protesters.
Hegseth pushed back, continuing to say that Trump would not give an illegal order. When Slotkin then asked if Hegseth had been in any conversations with Trump on using active military duty inside the United States, Hegseth shifted the conversation towards border control.
Slotkin asked Hegseth if he would support using active duty military to support detention camps.
"Senator, everything we will do would be lawful and under the Constitution," Hegseth repeated.
Duckworth tears into Hegseth: 'Let’s not lower the standards for you'
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a military combat veteran, tore into Hegseth over his lack of experience and his incorrect answers to some of her questions.
She tested him about his focus on the Asia-Pacific region and quizzed him about membership in ASEAN.
He named South Korea, Japan and Australia and Duckworth said, "None of those three countries that you mentioned are in ASEAN."
"I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations," she said.
The international organization consists of 10 countries including Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
"You say you care about keeping our armed forces strong and that you like that our armed forces' meritocracy," she said. "Then let's not lower the standards for you. You, sir, are a no-go at this station."
Peters questions Hegseth's leadership experience
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., questioned Hegseth about his managerial experience, telling the nominee, "You don't have that experience."
"We're hiring you to be the CEO of one of the most complex, largest organizations in the world. We're the board of directors here," Peters said.
"I don't know of any corporate board of directors that would hire a CEO or a major company if they came and said, 'You know, I supervised 100 people before,'" the senator continued, adding that Hegseth's prior company is "not remotely near the size" of the DoD.
Peters said that while Hegseth is "a capable person," he has not convinced him that he could take on "this tremendous responsibility."
Hegseth responded to Peters' claims by quipping that he's "grateful to be hired by one of the most successful CEOs in American history," referring to Trump.
Wicker quickly jumped in, saying, "Should I be confirmed?" and pointing out that most senators wouldn't qualify either.
Sen. Mullin blasts Democrats, suggests some senators drink on the job
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., blasted Kaine and other Democratic senators for what Mullin described as a double standard in their criticisms of Hegseth related to his alcohol use and alleged infidelities.
“The senator from Virginia starts bringing up the fact that, what if you showed up drunk to your job? How many senators have showed up drunk at night?” Mullin said. “Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job?”
“And don’t tell me you haven’t seen it, because I know you have,” he added.
“How many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down?” he continued.
“A man’s made a mistake, and you want to sit there and say that he’s not qualified,” Mullin said. “It is so ridiculous that you guys hold yourself as this higher standard. You forget you got a big plank in your eye. We’ve all made mistakes.”
Hegseth won't commit to not working in defense industry after Pentagon, if confirmed
During an exchange over the revolving door between the Pentagon and the defense industry, Warren tried to get Hegseth to commit to not working in the defense industry for 10 years after he leaves the department if he is confirmed.
Hegseth avoided addressing the topic head-on.
“Senator, it’s not even a question I’ve thought about,” Hegseth said. “It’s not my motivation for this job.”
Warren interrupted by again asking if Hegseth could say that he was “quite sure that every general who serves should not go directly into the defense industry for 10 years."
“You’re not willing to make that same pledge,” Warren continued.
“I’m not a general, senator,” he replied, prompting laughter in the chamber.
Moments later, as Sen. Tommy Tuberville began speaking, he teased the prior interaction by addressing Hegseth as “General Hegseth."
“I mean, Mr. Hegseth,” Tuberville added, prompting another round of laughter.