A guide to Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN

Washington (CNN) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, will face a Senate panel Tuesday for his confirmation hearing as he is expected to be questioned over allegations ranging from sexual assault to excessive drinking in the workplace.

Hegseth has denied all accusations and made several trips to Capitol Hill to shore up support since he was announced as Trump’s pick in November, including meeting with senators as recently as last week. But it’s unclear as of Tuesday whether the veteran and former Fox News host has managed to convince the Senate Armed Services Committee so that his nomination can be referred to the full chamber for a vote.

In his opening statement obtained by CNN, Hegseth is expected to tell the committee that he wishes to restore a “warrior culture” to the Defense Department. The remarks do not address questions about Hegseth’s personal life.

“It is true that I don’t have a similar biography to Defense Secretaries of the last 30 years,” Hegseth is expected to say. “But, as President Trump also told me, we’ve repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly ‘the right credentials’ —whether they are retired generals, academics, or defense contractor executives—and where has it gotten us? He believes, and I humbly agree, that it’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm.”

Trump has defended his pick amid the allegations and in December said he remained confident that Hegseth will be confirmed. However, CNN has reported the Trump transition team has compiled a list of potential alternatives should Hegseth falter.

Here’s what to know about Hegseth and his confirmation hearing.

Who is Hegseth?

Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran who was deployed in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Iraq and Afghanistan. He has earned two Bronze Star Medals for his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He went on to lead two veteran advocacy nonprofits, Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America, and joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014, eventually becoming a co-host of the weekend “Fox & Friends” show.

Trump considered Hegseth for a Cabinet position during his first term, including Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and though he was ultimately passed over, Hegseth remained in Trump’s orbit. He acted as an informal adviser to Trump for a number of years while he was in and out of office, Trump advisers told CNN.

As a Fox News host, Hegseth made $4.6 million, according to his financial disclosure, which covered the past two years. He left the role in November amid his announcement as Trump’s pick for defense secretary. Hegseth also made approximately $1 million on speaking fees across dozens of engagements in 2023 and 2024, many of which were at conservative or Christian organizations, and brought in royalties from three books he has written.

According to the financial disclosure, Hegseth held stock in several major defense contractors as well, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Honeywell. The value of the assets was relatively small, listed between $1,001 and $15,000 for each of the companies. Hegseth also held between $15,001 and $50,000 of Bitcoin.

CNN has reported that as Hegseth’s public profile grew, he faced deepening private turmoil. His second wife, Samantha, filed for divorce in 2017, shortly after Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet — with whom he had been having an affair — gave birth to their baby. During divorce proceedings, a court-appointed parenting consultant chastised Hegseth in one letter for his conduct around his sons, writing that he had shown “hostile and degrading communication” toward Samantha. Hegseth stated in a court filing that he thought the court-appointed consultant’s letter was “heavy handed,” though he committed to learning from his mistakes. His attorney said that the proceedings were typical for divorce cases, noting that Hegseth has a great relationship with his kids and adding that “this is why people get divorced – because they fight.”

Hegseth’s treatment of women was criticized by his own mother, who wrote in a 2018 letter obtained by The New York Times in late November that that there are “many” women whom he has “abused in some way” and encouraged him to “get some help.” Shortly after, Penelope Hegseth went on Fox News to retract the letter and defend her son, and she told the Times that she wrote the email “in anger, with emotion.” Pete Hegseth’s mother said that she had immediately apologized in a separate email, and she said her own characterization of his treatment of women in the email “has never been true.”

Sexual assault allegation

Hegseth was accused by a woman of sexually assaulting her in October 2017 following a speaking engagement at a conference held by a Republican women’s group in Monterey, California.

According to a police report obtained by CNN, the woman told police that Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone and then sexually assaulted her even though she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot.” Hegseth told police that their encounter was consensual and that he had repeatedly made sure the woman “was comfortable with what was going on between the two of them.”

Hegseth was not charged with a crime in connection with the allegation. In response to the reporting of the police report, his lawyer Tim Parlatore told CNN that the “police found the allegations to be false, which is why no charges were filed,”— although the report does not say that police found the allegations to be false.

Hegseth continues to deny any wrongdoing and maintains that the encounter was consensual.

Years later, he paid the woman as part of a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause. Hegseth’s lawyer said that he settled because he was worried it was during the “Me Too” movement and he didn’t want to lose his job at Fox News if the accusation became public.

Concerns over workplace behavior

Hegseth has also been accused of mismanaging funds at Vets for Freedom, including inappropriate expenses such as parties one former associate of the group described as “trysts,” according to The New Yorker.

During a later leadership stint at Concerned Veterans for America, former employees sent a letter to the nonprofit’s senior management with a slew of allegations related to excessive drinking and treatment of female staff, the magazine further reported. The magazine did not name the employees and CNN has not independently reviewed the report.

Among the allegations were that Hegseth had to be restrained from joining the dancers on stage at a Louisiana strip club where he had brought his team.

The complaint also alleged Hegseth’s management team “sexually pursued” employees and divided the organization’s female staffers into two groups — “party girls” and “not party girls.” He has also been accused of ignoring a female employee’s allegation that another member of Hegseth’s staff attempted to sexually assault her.

The magazine also alleges that it obtained a letter that alleged Hegseth, in a separate incident, “passed out” in the back of a party bus and then urinated in front of a hotel where the organization’s team was staying.

Responding to the New Yorker’s reporting, a Hegseth adviser said in a statement to CNN, “We’re not going to comment on outlandish claims laundered through the New Yorker by a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate of Mr. Hegseth’s.”

One longtime Fox News producer told CNN years before Hegseth became Trump’s pick that his drinking habit was an “open secret” on the set of “Fox & Friends” and that he had more than once noticed beer cans in the trash inside Hegseth’s office.

Hegseth has previously acknowledged that he was drinking heavily as he transitioned from military to civilian life, but he denies having a drinking problem and has vowed to quit drinking all together if he’s confirmed.

History of controversial comments and policy suggestions

Hegseth has on several occasions slammed the policies of the very department he could soon lead.

He has criticized efforts to allow women into combat roles, accusing the military of lowering standards to allow women into those jobs.

Hegseth said on a podcast last year that he took issue specifically with women in “physical, labor-intensive type jobs,” such as those with the Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, Marine Forces Special Operations and jobs such as those in infantry, armor and artillery units.

On the same podcast, Hegseth also criticized the military’s diversity programs, saying, “Woke sh*t has got to go.”

In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors” and in subsequent media promotions last year, he condemned policies allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military, calling them part of a “Marxist” agenda to prioritize social justice over combat readiness.

During the widespread protests following George Floyd’s death in 2020, Hegseth supported ordering active-duty troops to put down riots. And like Trump, Hegseth has also praised waterboarding as an “effective” tactic.

Hegseth also urged Trump to be tougher on some issues, such as pushing the then-president to take further action against Iran after the president ordered a drone strike in January 2020 that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

Hegseth also spread baseless conspiracy theories about the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, claiming the initial break-in was a false flag operation carried out by leftist groups disguised as Trump supporters.

Hegseth has remained defiant

As he continues to deny the mounting allegations, Hegseth has attempted to convince members of the key Senate Armed Services Committee and has vowed to “fight like hell” to win confirmation.

Hegseth met with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week and sought to address any last-minute concerns ahead of Tuesday’s hearing.

During similar meetings with senators last month, a senior transition official told CNN that Hegseth faced blunt questions from members and nearly every meeting included a discussion about the role of women in combat following reports of him supporting a ban on women from combat roles.

In conversations with senators, Hegseth chose not to lean into controversial policies he has supported and instead conveyed that his aim is to “make this military lethal again,” the official said.

Parlatore told CNN early last month that Hegseth’s name was submitted for an FBI background check, and subsequently shared that the confidentiality agreement with his accuser and the complaint from former employees at Concerned Veterans for America were submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

What the Senate committee has signaled

The Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by GOP Sen. Roger Wicker, will question Hegseth during a confirmation hearing before voting on whether to advance his nomination for a full vote in the Senate.

Wicker and Ranking Member Jack Reed, a Democrat, were briefed Friday night on the FBI’s background check of Hegseth, sources told CNN. Per the committee’s practices, other members of the committee will not receive a briefing.

Hegseth will need to limit defections in the chamber to three GOP senators assuming all Democrats vote against him. A group of Democrats in the committee has argued that the allegations against Hegseth should disqualify him from leading the Pentagon.

Committee member Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — who sent a 33-page letter to Hegseth outlining more than 70 questions that she and other Democrats have for him — argued that Hegseth is not qualified.

“We need someone who will be sober, who is someone who has gained the respect and trust of the troops, and someone who has demonstrated that he can actually manage an organization — not just 40 people, which has been his experience — but that he’s really ready to take on an organization of 3.5 million people,” Warren told CNN last week.

Meanwhile, key Republicans on the panel have signaled openness to backing Hegseth.

Among the Republican members of the committee who were initially hesitant to back him was Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a survivor of sexual assault who has advocated for women in the military and is seen as a key potential swing vote.

After conversations with Hegseth last month — one of which Ernst described as “thoughtful” and policy-focused — the senator said the defense pick “is very supportive of women in the military,” despite his previous comments. However, while she said she will “support Pete through this process,” she would not comment on whether she feels confident with Hegseth’s denials over the sexual assault allegation.

Trump has continued to back Hegseth, which sets up a challenge for any GOP senator who might go up against him. With Trump’s picks to face confirmation hearings soon, GOP senators are being careful to pick their battles and cautious of how they approach the president-elect’s selections.

CNN’s Casey Tolan, Curt Devine, Rob Kuznia, Brian Stelter, Scott Glover, Kyung Lah, Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck, Winter Hawk and Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.

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