Five takeaways from Pete Hegseth hearing

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defence secretary, cleared his first hurdle on the way to confirmation: a long – and at times tense – hearing before the Senate’s Armed Services Committee.

For more than four hours on Tuesday, Hegseth faced questions about his ability to run the Defence Department, including its three million employees and $849bn (£695bn) budget. And though he was grilled by Democrats over accusations of sexual assault, infidelity and drinking in the workplace, most Republicans on the committee appeared to support him.

Democrats’ opposition in a closely divided Senate means that Hegseth can afford to lose only three Republican votes and still be confirmed.

Here’s a look at the five main takeaways from Hegseth’s testimony.

From the very start of his testimony, Hegseth, a military veteran, emphasised what he called a “warrior culture”, vowing to return the focus of the Defence Department to the strength of America’s military.

“Warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That’s it. That is my job,” he said in his opening statements.

As the hearing continued, Hegseth was critical of policies he felt harmed the efficiency and “lethality” of the military, namely efforts aimed at racial and gender diversity.

“This is not a time for equity,” he said, adding that he opposes quotas, which he claims hurt morale.

In what became an expectedly partisan hearing, Democrats repeatedly grilled Hegseth on his past statements suggesting women were not suited to serve in combat roles in the military.

Questions along these lines from Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono and Elizabeth Warren provided some of the most heated moments of the morning.

He spoke over Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, as she tried to point to comments about female service members stretching back years.

“Mr Hegseth, I’m quoting you in a podcast: ‘Women shouldn’t be in combat at all’,” Warren said.

Hegseth remained composed, responding by saying his concern was not women in combat, but simply maintaining “standards” in the military.

Hegseth, who at 44 would be the youngest defence secretary in decades, also answered questions about his preparedness to run the defence department, a sprawling agency.

The former Fox News host described himself as a “change agent”, saying “it’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm.”

Some Republicans deemed Hegseth’s lack of experience a strength.

“I just want to say for all the talk of experience and not coming from the same cocktail parties that permanent Washington is used to, you are a breath of fresh air,” Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri, said.

A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Hegseth was an infantry platoon leader in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Hegseth, also a former Fox News TV host, has military experience in Afghanistan as well.

Still, Democrats pressed Hegseth on his qualifications for the top military job. Reporting from US media found that Hegseth’s tenures at the helm of two non-profit veterans groups ended in financial disarray.

Combat veteran Tammy Duckworth focused on whether Hegseth had ever supervised an audit.

“Senator, in both of the organizations I ran, we were always completely fiscally responsible,” Hegseth began, before Duckworth cut in.

“Yes or no? Did you lead an audit? Do you not know this answer?” Duckworth said.

Some experts told the BBC they were most struck by how little Hegseth talked about how he’d handle the job’s military complexities.

Aside from brief mentions of China and the war in Ukraine and Russia, senators did not ask Hegseth specifically about current conflicts, and other potential military adversaries and strategic rivals.

Those fundamental issues were mostly “crowded out” by the questions about Hegseth’s character and competence, said Mara Karlin, former assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities.

“What’s astonishing about the hearing is just how little focus there has been on the bread and butter of what the secretary of defence has to do, which is protect the nation, and ensure you have a military capable of winning conflicts,” Karlin said.

A 2017 accusation of sexual assault in Monterey, California, which surfaced soon after Trump tapped him for the Pentagon role, came up repeatedly.

According to a police report, an unnamed woman said Hegseth took her phone and blocked the door when she tried to leave his hotel room before sexually assaulting her.

Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer acknowledged Hegseth had paid an undisclosed amount to stay quiet about the incident.

On Tuesday, Hegseth mainly went on the offensive, decrying a “coordinated smear campaign” orchestrated by the left-wing media. “They want to destroy me.”

But at other times in the hearing, Hegseth responded to questions about his conduct with passionate references to his Christian faith.

“I am not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” he said.