Sen. Joni Ernst admitted Thursday that she was not ready to vote “yes” on Defense Secretary-designee Pete Hegseth — in a setback for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick who is facing a slew of sexual impropriety and professional misconduct allegations.
In an interview on Fox News, “America’s Newsroom” co-anchor Bill Hemmer asked Ernst if she had “gotten to a yes” after the Iowa Republican tweeted Wednesday about having “a frank and thorough conversation” with the embattled nominee on Capitol Hill — without making her stance known.
“It doesn’t sound on your answer that you’ve gotten to a yes. If I’m wrong about that, correct me,” he offered, before pressing: “And if that is the case, it sounds to me as if the hearing will be critical for his nomination. Am I right about that?”
“I think you are right,” Ernst replied. “I think for a number of our senators, they wanna make sure that any allegations have been cleared, and that’s why we have to have a very thorough vetting process.”
Hegseth, 44, has been facing a mounting accusations about the Army combat vet’s binge drinking, financial mismanagement and sexual misconduct, much of which was said to have occurred while he was heading up two veterans affairs advocacy groups between 2007 and 2016.
Ernst, an Army veteran and former victim of sexual assault herself, was rumored to have been eyeing the Pentagon post herself before the former Fox News personality was tapped instead.
“I did have a very long, lengthy discussion with Pete yesterday and I do appreciate his service to the nation. I also am a combat veteran,” she added.
“I know that we will continue to have conversations in the upcoming months,” she added of Trump’s top choice to lead the Pentagon.
Just four Senate Republicans would have to be against Hegseth to tank his nomination.
To shore up support amid the firestorm of allegations, he has been meeting with Republican senators to share his vision for reforming the Defense Department — including a full-scale crackdown on so-called “woke” and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) intiatives.
“Pete Hegseth is a decorated veteran and a patriot who will always put America first,” said incoming Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) in a Thursday statement. “Pete is focused on what I’m focused on which is getting wokeness out of the military and making our Department of Defense lethal again. And Pete Hegseth won’t back down. He won’t back down from the media, or from the bureaucracy and he won’t back down from China, Iran or Russia. He’s going to make America strong again and our enemies fear us again.”
Trump, 78, praised Hegseth when announcing him as the next top dog at DoD for having published a book “The War Against Warriors” on the topic earlier this year.
“The book reveals the leftwing betrayal of our warriors, and how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence,” said the once and future president, who frequently railed against “woke generals.”
GOP sources spilled to The Post on Wednesday that “zero” senators in the conference have been privately opposing Hegseth’s confirmation — despite non-committal statements in public.
“The articles I’ve read, yeah, some of them are concerning,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a Trump ally, told reporters Wednesday. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. But he’ll go through the process and we’ll see what happens.”
Lurid stories peddled by anonymous whistleblowers who purportedly worked at the nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America have also clashed with on-the-record testimony from at least one adviser who served alongside Hegseth and called the sweeping allegations “insane.”
“For every anonymous ‘source’ making an unfounded claim about Hegseth, there are twice as many colleagues and former colleagues who are putting their names publicly on record to refute the defamatory, meritless slander,” another Senate Republican aide previously quipped to The Post.
Hegseth told podcast host Megyn Kelly on Wednesday that, counter to the media reports, his discussions with senators so far have been “fantastic” and that no Republican has outright said they will not vote for him.
He went on to compare his plight to that of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh — whose 2018 confirmation was nearly derailed by allegations of sexual assault.
“Kavanaugh stood up and he won,” Hegseth said on “The Megyn Kelly Show.” “And hopefully Republicans have learned that lesson. And Trump stood by him.”
“Why would I back down?” the Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran also said Wednesday on the Hill. “I’ve always been a fighter. I’m here for the fighters. This is personal and passionate.”
