More Republicans are ‘waiting for the right time to say no’ to Hegseth

On December 6, 2024By Littum

Late. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Wednesday that he has spoken with several Republican colleagues who have said they are “waiting for the right moment” to reject Pete Hegseth as the nominee to lead the Pentagon.

“I’ve talked to five to 10 Republicans who have told me they’re just waiting for the right time to say ‘no’ to Pete Hegseth,” Blumenthal told reporters Wednesday. “And for very good reasons.”

Blumenthal said he believes Republicans are reluctant to publicly reject President-elect Trump’s nominee because “nobody wants to defy Donald Trump.” But he said he believes his GOP colleagues could express their concerns to the president-elect behind closed doors.

“The power of the presidency, not to mention this president-elect, and what the retribution might be, I think is pretty scary, and so I think the Republicans are reluctant to step forward and be the first, but I think privately, they are much more ready to advise the President that the best part of wisdom would be to urge the withdrawal of this nomination.”

“I would be surprised if we’re still talking about Hegseth at the end of the week or on Monday,” Blumenthal added.

Hegseth has been the one subject to charges of sexual assault stemming from a 2017 meeting he says was consensual, as well as allegations of being drunk at work and mismanaging funds while running two veterans organizations.

However, Hegseth was defiant on Wednesday, and has promised to continue to fight for the nomination.

The Trump team, which has been largely blindsided by allegations of personal wrongdoing by Hegseth, is said to be considering other options to replace Hegseth as the nominee to lead the Pentagon.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that President-elect Trump was considering asking his old rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The Associated Press reported that another option was to move Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) from his current nomination to be national security adviser to instead take the helm at the Pentagon.

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