GOP senators hold back judgment on Hegseth sexual assault allegation

Republican senators appear to be giving Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick to head the Pentagon, the benefit of the doubt after his lawyer confirmed he paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017 to avoid a lawsuit.

Hegseth, a Fox News commentator last week announced by Trump as his intended Defense secretary, has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017, claiming that he was subject to blackmail. 

But GOP senators, many of whom have already responded to Hegseth’s nomination with surprise due to his lack of experience, are withholding their opinions until after a full background check and a public nomination hearing.

“We're going to look at each [nominee] individually,” Senate Armed Services Committee member Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told The Hill. “The president, we give him the benefit of the doubt, but we do our due diligence, and I think an open hearings process is something that we all believe in.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters that “clearly we're going to have to have a full background check and Senate committee investigation and public hearings, which is standard.”

And Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she’s “going to do what everybody should do on all of these [nominations] is, let's see what the incoming brings.”

The incoming Senate Armed Services Committee chair, Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who will oversee Hegseth’s confirmation process in January, wouldn’t speak to reporters Tuesday.

Republicans over the past week have largely deflected or downplayed questions about the Fox News host’s ability to serve as civilian head of an agency that oversees nearly 3 million service members and more than 700,000 civilian workers. 

Hegseth, an Army veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, has also drawn scrutiny from Democrats for saying that women should not serve in combat roles and suggesting a purge of “woke” generals, including the sacking of Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown. 

The Trump transition team was reportedly caught off guard by allegations, newly surfaced last week, that the Pentagon nominee sexually assaulted a woman, which he has denied. 

Police investigated the crime, which was reported to have transpired at the Hyatt Regency in Monterey, Calif., in October 2017, though Hegseth was never charged. His lawyer acknowledged that Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of assault to settle a threatened lawsuit. Hegseth asserts that the encounter was consensual. 

Just four Republicans would need to defect to torpedo Hegseth’s nomination. The Trump transition team is quietly preparing a list of alternative candidates for Defense secretary, Vanity Fair reported. 

Making matters more complicated is Hegseth’s past criticism of the senators who will be key to his confirmation.

He bashed Collins and Murkowski, who he said “call themselves Republicans and vote more often with the Democrats,” after the two voted against the repeal of ObamaCare in 2017. 

He also has lambasted Wicker over defense spending, insisting Congress allocates the Pentagon far too many dollars.

“This is not a funding issue. The Pentagon is not short on dollars. They have plenty of that,” Hegseth said in June on Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox. 

Vice President-elect JD Vance, the junior senator from Ohio, on Thursday is set to shepherd Hegseth to meetings with key GOP colleagues.

Sen. Joni Ernst (I-Iowa) is among the Republicans seeking more answers.

“Any time there are allegations, you want to make sure they are properly vetted, so we’ll have that discussion,” she told Politico, adding the new sexual assault allegations would require a “discussion.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the next ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also held off Tuesday on offering any personal thoughts on Hegseth.

“I think that after the thorough background check conducted by the FBI, which is traditional for nominees of the position of secretary of Defense. And then those results will be very influential on, I think, everyone's decision,” he told The Hill.