Hegseth wants to restore honor to Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, the native North Carolinian whose name was replaced at Fort Bragg last year. | Opinion

Sen. Blumenthal grilled SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth on his qualifications despite reaffirming current support for the job SecDef Lloyd Austin has done.

A telling moment in the supremely depressing Senate confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, the Fox News personality who is Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, came right at the beginning, when the former Republican senator Norm Coleman introduced him.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on President-elect Trump’s defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, to divest from thousands of dollars worth of defense company stocks held by his wife,

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department sat for a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday after hearings for Veterans’ Affairs Secretary nominee Doug Collins and Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum were postponed.

A cursory review of Hegseth’s background reveals he has little knowledge or experience of complex national security issues.

Democrats say Hegseth’s lack of experience, his past comments about women and Black troops and allegations of excessive drinking, and sexual misconduct, make him unfit to serve.

The former combat veteran and TV news show host says he will be a “change agent” and a “warrior” for the department.

A Navy submariner who said she was sexually assaulted multiple times. An Army major who chose to never report her assault. A Marine Corps sexual assault response coordinator who worries she is being discriminated against because she’s a woman. A former Defense Department sexual assault victim advocate of the year.

Wicker did not specify what day the vote would take place, but said it could be as late as next Thursday if Senate Democrats do not allow the chamber to speed up the confirmation process.

Pete Hegseth vowed to foster a "warrior culture" at the Pentagon and be a "change agent." He did not address the allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking, focusing instead on his combat experience.

Democrats said Hegseth’s lack of experience, his past comments about women and Black troops and allegations of excessive drinking, and sexual misconduct, make him unfit to serve. Republicans described him as "unconventional" but an “excellent choice.