Red Flags in Hegseth’s Hearing

The Results of Choosing Loyalty Over Competence

The Senate recently held a confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, a Fox News personality with limited military experience and virtually no executive background, to serve as Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense. Since his nomination, critics have questioned Hegseth’s qualifications to lead the Department of Defense. As I noted in a previous Substack, Hegseth’s lack of expertise is compounded by his ties to far-right elements within American politics. At one point, he was classified as an “Insider Threat” within the military and barred from attending President Biden’s inauguration.

The hearing played out as expected. Hegseth’s testimony relied heavily on Republican culture-war rhetoric, including claims that “wokeness” and political correctness have undermined military effectiveness. He also scrambled to address concerns about his history with alcohol and womenizing and his controversial stance on women serving in the military.

One particularly revealing moment came during Senator Tammy Du…