Five takeaways from the Pete Hegseth hearing

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, cleared his first hurdle on the road to confirmation: a lengthy — and at times tense — hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

For more than four hours on Tuesday, Hegseth faced questions about his ability to lead the Defense Department, including its three million staff and $849bn (£695bn) budget. And even if he was grilled by Democrats over accusations of sexual assault, adultery and drunkenness on the workplace, most Republicans on the committee seemed to support him.

Democratic opposition in a closely divided Senate means Hegseth can afford to lose just three Republican votes and still be confirmed.

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

From the very beginning of his testimony, Hegseth, a military veteran, emphasized what he called a “warrior Pentagon” and promised to return the Defense Department’s focus to the strength of the United States’ military.

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

As the hearing continued, Hegseth was highly critical of policies he felt hurt the military’s effectiveness and “lethality,” namely efforts aimed at racial and gender diversity.

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

In what became an anticipated partisan hearing, Democrats repeatedly grilled Hegseth on his past statements suggesting that women were unfit to serve in combat roles in the military.

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

He was talking about Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, when she tried to point to comments about female service members that go back years.

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

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

Hegseth, who at 44 would be the youngest defense secretary in decades, also answered questions about his readiness to run the Defense Department, a sprawling agency.

The former Fox News host described himself as a “change agent” and said that “it’s time to give someone with dust on their boots the helm.”

Some Republicans saw Hegseth’s lack of experience as a strength.

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

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, also has military experience in Afghanistan.

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

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

“Senator, in both organizations that I led, we were always completely fiscally responsible,” Hegseth began, before Duckworth interjected.

“Yes or no? Did you lead an audit? Don’t know this answer?” Duckworth said.

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

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

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

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

A 2017 sexual-assault allegation in Monterey, California, which surfaced shortly after Trump picked him for the Pentagon role, has resurfaced repeatedly.

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

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

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

But at other points in the hearing, Hegseth responded to questions about his behavior with impassioned references to his Christian faith.

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