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AP: Hegseth faces senators' concerns not only about his behavior but also his views on women in combat
AP - Hegseth faces senators’ concerns not only about his behavior but also his views on women in combat
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, LISA MASCARO and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Updated 12:37 PM EST, December 5, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth has spent the week on Capitol Hill trying to reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Defense in the wake of high-profile allegations about excessive drinking and sexual assault.
But senators in both parties have also expressed concern about another issue — Hegseth’s frequent comments that women should not serve in frontline military combat jobs.
As the former Army National Guard major and combat veteran fights to salvage his Cabinet nomination, meeting with senators for a fourth day Thursday with promises not to drink on the job and assurances he never engaged in sexual misconduct, his professional views on women troops are coming under deeper scrutiny.
North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said Wednesday that he confronted Hegseth about the issue when they spoke one-on-one.
“I said to him, just so you know, Joni Ernst and Tammy Duckworth deserve a great deal of respect,” Cramer said, referring to two female senators who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee — both of whom are combat veterans.
The role of women in the military is another entry in the far-right’s efforts to return the armed forces back to an earlier era, something Hegseth has embraced with Trump’s approach to end “woke” programs that foster diversity, equity and inclusion in the ranks. The DEI movement is coming under attack as Trump prepares to return to the White House, and he has vowed to fire generals whom he deems “woke.”
/snip
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, LISA MASCARO and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Updated 12:37 PM EST, December 5, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth has spent the week on Capitol Hill trying to reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Defense in the wake of high-profile allegations about excessive drinking and sexual assault.
But senators in both parties have also expressed concern about another issue — Hegseth’s frequent comments that women should not serve in frontline military combat jobs.
As the former Army National Guard major and combat veteran fights to salvage his Cabinet nomination, meeting with senators for a fourth day Thursday with promises not to drink on the job and assurances he never engaged in sexual misconduct, his professional views on women troops are coming under deeper scrutiny.
North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said Wednesday that he confronted Hegseth about the issue when they spoke one-on-one.
“I said to him, just so you know, Joni Ernst and Tammy Duckworth deserve a great deal of respect,” Cramer said, referring to two female senators who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee — both of whom are combat veterans.
The role of women in the military is another entry in the far-right’s efforts to return the armed forces back to an earlier era, something Hegseth has embraced with Trump’s approach to end “woke” programs that foster diversity, equity and inclusion in the ranks. The DEI movement is coming under attack as Trump prepares to return to the White House, and he has vowed to fire generals whom he deems “woke.”
/snip
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