Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio) on Friday said he and President-elect Trump are standing by Pete Hegseth, the embattled nominee to lead the Department of Defense, and told reporters he was speaking with skeptical senators to urge them to give him a hearing.
Vance visited North Carolina to tour storm-ravaged areas still recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. He was joined by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
"Importantly, Pete Hegseth is going to get his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, not a sham hearing before the American media. We believe that Pete Hegseth is the right guy to lead the Department of Defense, that's why President Trump nominated him," Vance told reporters. "We're not abandoning this nomination."
Vance said he had spoken with "a number" of senators, including Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who is seen as one of the key holdouts who has voiced reservations about Hegseth's nomination.
"All I'm asking is that people actually allow the Senate process to work," Vance said. "We do not determine important government officials based on anonymous sourcing from the American media."
Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army veteran, has seen his nomination pushed to the brink in the face of mounting allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and other controversial behavior in his previous jobs.
Hegseth has spent the week meeting with GOP senators and vowing he will not back down.
The Hill has reported that as many as eight Republican senators are prepared to vote against Hegseth, but most of them are not willing to call publicly for Hegseth to resign because they don’t want to be criticized by Trump’s MAGA allies.
Hegseth can only afford three Republican “no” votes in next year’s 53-seat Senate Republican majority and still be confirmed, assuming all Democrats vote against him.
Ernst, herself a survivor of sexual assault, has made combatting sexual assault in the military one of her top priorities. That has put her in the spotlight because Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a 30-year-old staff member at a Republican women’s conference in 2017.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday that Hegseth was doing “very well” and had strong support. But Trump has so far not worked the phones or publicly pressured senators to back Hegseth, and he has spoken to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) about leading the Pentagon in the event Hegseth withdraws.
