Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing live updates: Trump defense secretary pick and wife arrive on Capitol Hill

Hegseth arrived to the hearing room with his wife Jennifer just before he’s set to deliver opening remarks.

He did not take any questions from reporters as he walked inside, but threw a thumbs up.

Click HERE to watch Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing from Capitol Hill at 9.30am.

From Sarah Ewall-Wice on Capitol Hill:

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said to reporters about Hegseth:

He has 12 years in which he has said aggressively how women should not serve the military.

He is disqualified based on his attitudes about women in the military, based on the credible threats of sexual assault and sexual harassment, based on the fact that he has driven not one but two nonprofits directly into the ground.

This is a man [who] is not qualified to lead an agency that has $800 billion budget.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

House Speaker Mike Johnon said Pete Hegseth is the leader ‘needed’ at the Pentagon to redirect the U.S. defense priorities.

He claimed the former Fox News host and Army veteran will be a major upgrade from the leadership under President Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who oversaw the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.

Hegseth has his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Service Committee on Tuesday.

‘We need a DECISIVE leader who can focus the Department of Defense on its mission of protecting America,’ Johnson wrote on X. ‘We need Pete Hegseth.’

From Sarah Ewall-Wice on Capitol Hill:

Adnaan Stumo from Code Pink tells DailyMail.com why they’re out today for the Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing:

Code Pink takes issues with Hegseth’s ‘crusading holy war style of rhetoric and he’s a self professed Christian Zionist.’

I am terrified that he is going to lead us into another Forever War.

His inflammatory crusading style… If he backs that up as head of our military, we are going to be seeing many, many young, dead Americans.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Democratic Senators Mark Kelly of Arizona and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois penned an op/ed on Tuesday ahead of Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing.

The two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee claim in the Military Times article that Hegseth’s ‘track record falls short of military standards.’

Both Kelly and Duckworth are veterans, similar to Hegseth.

‘Our responsibility is to make sure that the person who gets this job has the experience and judgment required to walk into a room of anyone from cadets to foreign military leaders and earn their respect and trust,’ they said of the role of Secretary for the Department of Defense.

From everything we know, it’s extremely unclear if Mr. Hegseth is that person. One quick glance at his resume and concerns over his lack of experience and qualifications become obvious.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill for DailyMail.com

Republican House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast is in the Senate hearing room where Pete Hegseth’s nomination hearing is about to begin.

Speaking to DailyMail.com Mast said Hegseth represents a realignment to military values and an end to ‘social experimentation.’

‘He’s a change agent for the military, for the difference between Lloyd Austin and social experimentation,’ Mast told DailyMail.com.

‘Only bring in the strongest, the best, make sure that you’re giving them every possibility to create deterrence and defense for America and come home alive when they do so,’ he added.

He was greeted warmly by a group of ‘Vets of Pete’ who posed for pictures with the Republican veteran who notably lost both of his legs in combat.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Hundreds of veterans have descended on Washington, D.C. Tuesday to support Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon.

Two former Navy SEALs organized the effort to march and back President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense.

Former SEALs Bill Brown and Rob Sweetman got to know Hegseth through his participation in the yearly New York City SEAL Swim in the Hudson River, which is organized by Brown.

Veterans are planning to pack into the room for Hegseth’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee as well as line up outside the building.

The group is meeting at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at 9:00 a.m. to march with flags toward Capitol Hill in support of Hegseth.

Donald Trump‘s pick of Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense will no doubt shake up the Pentagon say troops.

Hegseth’s appointment came as a surprise to many since he’s a non-establishment pick with no previous government experience who will be leading the nation’s largest federal agency with a $800 billion budget.

But current and former service members tell DailyMail.com that a shake-up at the top of the Pentagon totem pole is necessary.

Robert O’Neill, the former Navy SEAL who killed terrorist Osama bin Laden in 2011, told DailyMail.com that Hegseth is a ‘fantastic choice.’

And one main reason why is because he’s never been dragged into the D.C. political ‘swamp.’

‘He is a mid-level officer who has been to Afghanistan and Iraq on combat tours, worked with the National Guard in DC and played basketball at Princeton,’ said O’Neill.

‘He knows the soldiers and how a team works and really knows how to push himself. He is not part of the good-old-boy network and has never been part of the swamp.’

From Jon Michael Raasch on Capitol Hill:

Former Navy Seal Tim Kennedy is in the hearing room posing for pictures with other veterans.

He’s with a group of former military supporters of Hegseth’s who want to see him in the top Pentagon job.

There are bound to be disturbances throughout the hearing as members of far-left Code Pink are also inside the room.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Democrats aren’t happy that the FBI decided to skip interviewing Pete Hegseth’s ex-wife in their background check of the nominee to lead the Pentagon.

People familiar with the bureau’s investigation revealed that Hegseth’s second ex-wife Samantha was not contacted by the FBI ahead of Tuesday’s confirmation hearing.

The two were married in 2010 and divorced in 2018.

‘There are significant gaps and inadequacies in the report, including the failure to interview some of the key potential witnesses with personal knowledge of improprieties or abuse,’ Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat member of the committee, told the New York Times.

Rank-and-file Democratic members of the panel were already upset that they were not able to see the FBI background check – even though it’s typical for only the Chair and Ranking Member to receive a copy.

Pete Hegseth pictured with his second wife Samantha Deering Hegseth and one of their children. The two share three children

A lecture by the highest ranking transgender officer in the armed forces; a celebration of Loving Day and sessions on ‘equity assurance training.’

A trove of flyers obtained by DailyMail.com from serving CIA officers lays bare the extent of the agency’s ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ work triggering fresh accusations that it is being distracted from its core job of protecting Americans from foreign threats.

But Trump transition insiders say those concerns will be tackled head on by John Ratcliffe, who is the president-elect’s pick to lead the agency, and who will be grilled by senators about his plans on Wednesday.

He’s another of Trump’s most controversial nominees to be questioned this week after Pete Hegseth.

His marriage had fallen apart when his wife discovered his mistress had given birth to his daughter and his divorce was about to cost him millions.

His life was teetering on the brink as he turned a little too much to alcohol as a crutch.

And that wasn’t the worst of it for Pete Hegseth – Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary – as his life threatened to spiral out of control in 2017.

Just weeks later Hegseth, now 44, was accused of groping multiple women and sexually assaulting one as alcohol once again allegedly clouded his judgment.

The allegations of assault could not have come at a more delicate time for Hegseth personally. His accuser made her claims as his divorce proceedings were pending with an initial case conference set to take place less than three weeks later on October 27.

Pete Hegseth is covered in tattoos – and many of them have already proved controversial for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next Secretary of Defense.

The veteran served tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq, is double Bronze Star holder and a former Fox News host who stepped down once Trump’s selected him to lead the Pentagon in his second term.

Hegseth, 44, started adorning his body with tattoos only recently after his father dissuaded him from permanently marking his body at a young age. He now has over a dozen tattoos.

Among his most controversial tats is a large chest piece of the Jerusalem Cross, which he says got him labeled as an extremist.

He also has ‘Deus Vult’ on his bicep, which means ‘God Will It,’ and a cross and sword lower on his forearm. Also on his forearm is a massive ‘We the people’ in gothic lettering and the year 1775 in Roman Numerals.

Hegseth’s skin also dons the iconic ‘join or die’ snake, which many use to express their support for the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Rank-and-file Democrat senators are furious they haven’t been given access to an FBI background check on Donald Trump’s Pentagon nominee Pete Hegseth.

Several scandalous reports about Hegseth’s drinking habits, alleged sexual misconduct and rumors of mismanaging the finances of a veterans’ non-profit have concerned the lawmakers in charge of overseeing his confirmation.

The FBI gave their report on the nominee to the Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker and the committee’s top Democrat Jack Reed just days before the hearing.

Typically such reports on Cabinet nominees are only shared with the chairman and ranking member.

But Democrats on the committee were desperate to get their hands on the elusive FBI file that could contain damning information on Hegseth ahead of his first confirmation on Tuesday morning.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said of the information he heard is on the FBI file, ‘Damning is an understatement,’ and claims the withholding of it gives the ‘appearance of a cover-up.’

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Pete Hegseth’s financial disclosure released on Monday revealed he made $4.6 million over the last two years as a host on Fox News.

The 44-year-old Army veteran also made around $900,000 in speaking fees at non-profits, political action committees (PACS) and other conservative-centric organizations.

If he is confirmed to lead the Pentagon, which is highly likely in the Republican-controlled Congress, Hegseth will be taking home significantly less, and will be trading in his cushy Fox job for a highly regulated and under-the-microscope position.

As of October 2024, the Secretary of Defense’s annual salary clocked in at $246,400 – a massive payout for most Americans, but pennies compared to what Hegseth has become used to seeing in his pocket.

President-elect Donald Trump posted support of Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and wished him luck in his confirmation.

It comes as Hegseth prepares to face his first confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday morning.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense has three priorities he hopes to carry out if he is confirmed as the next Secretary of Defense.

The Army Veteran will detail in his opening statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday how wants to restore a ‘warrior ethos’ to the Pentagon.

Additionally his mission includes wanting to ‘rebuild our military’ and ‘reestablish deterrence.’

‘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,’ Hegseth will say in prepared remarks.

[Trump], like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That’s it. That is my job.’