gotchanewsdaily.com 
CNN
—
Pete Hegseth’s bid to lead the Pentagon is stuck in limbo, as he fiercely battles allegations of drinking and sexual misconduct and can’t be sure if President-elect Donald Trump really has his back.
A top Trump transition source had described Wednesday as “absolutely critical” for the former Fox News anchor’s confirmation hopes. And Hegseth threw himself into his task, meeting Republican senators, offering to quit alcohol if he’s confirmed, and mounting fiery rearguards on the Megyn Kelly radio show and in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Yet his position seems as tenuous Thursday morning as it was 24 hours earlier.
- The most important meeting on Hegseth’s schedule was with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a combat veteran, campaigner against sexual harassment in the military and a possible replacement pick for defense secretary if he falls short. Hegseth failed to emerge from the conversation with a public endorsement from the GOP senator. “I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s service to our country, something we both share,” she said in a post on X that was most notable for what was not said. “Today, as part of the confirmation process, we had a frank and thorough conversation.”
- Hegseth, who has more Capitol Hill meetings Thursday, is due to meet two other key Republican senators, Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, next week. Murkowski said Wednesday she’d “absolutely” ask him about allegations about his conduct and his opposition to women serving in combat roles in the military.
- Hegseth told Kelly on Sirius XM that he spoke to Trump Wednesday morning and that the president-elect had told him, “’Hey Pete, I got your back. It’s a fight. They’re coming after you, get after it.’” He added that Trump said, “‘You go meet those senators and I’ve got your back.’” Hegseth concluded: “It means a lot to me. It tells you who that guy is.”
- Hegseth’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that his client “can’t wait” to undergo an FBI background check, which he said “is going to exonerate him of the vast majority of these claims.”
- Yet Trump did not make a public, on-the-record endorsement of Hegseth on Wednesday as his team at Mar-a-Lago closely watched the defense pick’s day of meetings with key senators. A source told CNN that the president-elect and Ron DeSantis have discussed the Florida governor taking the role, suggesting that Trump may already have a Plan B in mind.
- Hegseth’s more aggressive us-versus-them strategy also came into view on Wednesday as he styled himself with the same “warrior” spirit that he once showed on the battlefield. He characterized his troubles as purely the result of a “ridiculous” narrative by “legacy media.” He told Kelly, “It’s our turn, it’s our time, to stand up and tell the truth, and our side.”
Does Trump really want Hegseth?
But Sen. Josh Hawley summed up the doubts surrounding the Hegseth pick when he said he didn’t know if the selection should be withdrawn. The Missouri Republican said he’d support whomever Trump wanted in his Cabinet but added: “It’s not 100% clear who he wants as secretary of defense right now.”
Hegseth, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, can afford to lose no more than three Republican senators and still be confirmed in the Senate, assuming all Democrats vote against. So, his window was narrow to begin with. And it’s hardly being helped by uncertainty over how much political capital Trump is willing to spend to see him confirmed.
But Sen. Markwayne Mullin said he’d spoken to both Trump and Hegseth and that the president-elect was still committed to his pick.
“They are still both all in the fight,” the Oklahoma Republican told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.”
“President Trump personally told me he wants to see Pete get confirmed and I think there’s a … path to get there. It may be a little narrow, but I believe we can get him confirmed,” he added.
The reticence of some senators to throw full public support behind Hegseth may be a hint that while they would prefer not to break with the president-elect early, they might also be keen to avoid a hearing that could turn into a public circus around the time of the inauguration.
One of Hegseth’s meetings on Wednesday was with West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who said she’d gotten into his “personal issues” and that their chat went well. But she said she has not yet decided whether she will vote to confirm him.
Growing talk about Ernst and DeSantis as possible replacements may also be bad news for Hegseth, because it’s likely that some senators will view the Iowa senator and Florida governor as potentially superior defense secretaries. A number of Republican senators have told reporters they hold Ernst in high regard. And she and DeSantis would have a far clearer path to confirmation than Hegseth. Still, it’s not clear whether Ernst would fit Trump’s bill for an ultra-loyalist who’d do whatever he wants at the Pentagon or whether the president-elect would be willing to elevate a former primary rival with whom he traded sharp words.
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal might not be a disinterested observer, but he suggested on Wednesday that the Hegseth nomination was already doomed. “I’ve talked to 5 to 10 Republicans who have said to me they’re just waiting for the right moment to say no to Pete Hegseth,” Blumenthal, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters.
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