{"id":48226,"date":"2024-11-19T09:24:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T14:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=48226"},"modified":"2024-11-19T09:33:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T14:33:11","slug":"cronkite-news-donald-trumps-defense-pick-faces-scrutiny-in-u-s-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/11\/19\/cronkite-news-donald-trumps-defense-pick-faces-scrutiny-in-u-s-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Donald Trump’s Defense pick faces scrutiny in U.S. Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Pete<\/a>
Pete Hegseth, a host on Fox News, has been tapped by president-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Defense. Photo: Gage Skidmore<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Kelly skeptical, Gallego mum on Trump defense pick<\/div>\r\n
Fox News host Pete Hegseth who lacks national security experience<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, November 19, 2024<\/div>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly was among the combat veterans and Democrats expressing deep skepticism at Donald Trump\u2019s choice of a defense secretary<\/a> with no national security experience.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTypically you expect someone in that role to have implemented or made policy \u2013 defense policy,\u201d Kelly, a Navy combat pilot, said Wednesday of the president-elect\u2019s pick, conservative Fox News host Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Donald\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tDonald Trump announces Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

“Nobody fights harder for the Troops,” Donald Trump said of Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Native\t\tNative Vote\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Resumes of defense secretaries in recent decades included stints as CIA director, secretary of the Army and White House chief of staff. Hegseth has no high-level defense or national security experience, though his crusade against \u201cwoke\u201d military policies endeared him to Trump.<\/p>\r\n

He wants women removed from combat roles opened to them in 2015 under former President Barack Obama and blames a focus on gender equality and other liberal goals for weakening the U.S. security.<\/p>\r\n

Senate Democrats don\u2019t see such views as sufficient qualification.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to get an opportunity here in the Armed Services Committee to ask him some very pointed questions,\u201d Kelly told Cronkite News at the Capitol. \u201cI\u2019d never even heard of him. \u2026 I read somewhere that he spent nine years as a TV host.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Senate confirmation requires only a simple majority, and Republicans will control at least 53 seats.<\/p>\r\n \"Ruben<\/a>

Arizona\u2019s senator-elect, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat and a Marine who served in Iraq as an infantryman, declined to discuss Donald Trump\u2019s choice of a Defense secretary when asked by Cronkite News on Capitol Hill. Photo by Kelechukwu Iruoma \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Arizona\u2019s senator-elect, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, also a Democrat \u2013 and a Marine who served in Iraq as an infantryman \u2013 declined to discuss the nomination, brushing aside questions from Cronkite News reporters at the House.<\/p>\r\n

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican who is not on Armed Services, was noncommittal.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWith all of President Trump\u2019s nominees we\u2019ll assess them on their merits,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cWe look forward to the confirmation hearings and to the process proceeding swiftly.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The Pentagon chief oversees the government\u2019s largest agency, with 1.3 million active duty personnel plus more than twice that many civilians and National Guard.<\/p>\r\n

But experience isn\u2019t apparently what drew Trump to his nominee.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cPete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country,\u201d Trump posted on social media. \u201cPete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our \u2018Peace through Strength\u2019 policy.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hegseth earned two Bronze Stars during infantry deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and rose to major in the Army National Guard. He served as CEO for Concerned Veterans for America, a conservative group. He studied at Princeton and earned a master in public policy from Harvard.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe Left wants to destroy the one institution standing between them and total control \u2013 the United States military,\u201d he wrote in a New York Times bestseller published in June, titled \u201cThe War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hegseth has demanded the firing of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. for “pursuing the radical positions of left-wing politicians.”<\/p>\r\n

In his book, he blames liberals\u2019 demands for \u201cgender equity, racial diversity, climate stupidity, and the LGBTQA+ alphabet soup\u201d for making it hard to recruit \u201cthe young, patriotic, Christian men who have traditionally filled our ranks.”<\/p>\r\n

Trump\u2019s two previous defense secretaries were far more experienced.<\/p>\r\n

James Mattis \u2013 who resigned less than two years into the job after Trump announced he would pull U.S. troops out of Syria \u2013 was a retired Marine general who had led U.S. Central Command, responsible for operations in the Middle East.<\/p>\r\n

His successor, Mark Esper, served as secretary of the Army under Trump and had been a deputy assistant secretary of defense under George W. Bush.<\/p>\r\n

The current secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, served 41 years in uniform, retiring from the Army as a four-star general. Like Mattis, he had led Central Command.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be asking questions about his management experience,\u201d Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, told Cronkite News. \u201cOur United States military deserves the very best of our managerial talent.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Other Cabinet picks have also stirred controversy, among them Trump\u2019s nomination Wednesday of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general.<\/p>\r\n

Gaetz is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of sex trafficking, sex with minors and illicit drug use, which he has denied. Like Trump, Gaetz has been investigated by the Department of Justice. The department he would lead if confirmed opted not to pursue charges.<\/p>\r\n

One common thread among the Cabinet picks so far is staunch loyalty to Trump.<\/p>\r\n

Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman tapped to lead the EPA, was an avid defender during Trump\u2019s impeachment trials. So was South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, his pick for Homeland Security secretary.<\/p>\r\n

As part of his book rollout, Hegseth revealed that leaders of his National Guard unit excluded him from duty protecting President Joe Biden\u2019s inauguration Jan. 20, 2021, having \u201cdeemed that I was an extremist or a white nationalist.\u201d That, he said, was because of a tattoo of a \u201cJerusalem cross,\u201d a symbol that dates to 11th Century Crusaders.<\/p>\r\n

Washington correspondents Lauren Bly, Miguel Ambriz and Madeline Nguyen contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFor more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>. It is published via a Creative Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM>
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