Pete Hegseth has enough votes to become nation’s Secretary of Defense, top Republican tells Trump
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The former Fox News host is due to attend a confirmation hearing for the top Pentagon job on January 15. President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly been reassured by a top Republican that his controversial pick for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, has enough backing from the GOP to be confirmed by the Senate.
![[Senate Majority leader John Thune reportedly reassured the President-elect that Hegseth would survive the confirmation process]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/11/11/204d5532376941b5a22ad532b06eee45.jpg)
However, speaking to CBS’s "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" Thune, said that the process would be fair but reiterated that the nominees would all have to “make their case in front of the committee.”. “I think these are nominees who are new enough, they’ve been going around and conducting their meetings, which I think, frankly, have gone very well, but they still have to make their case in front of the committee. And, you know, we don’t know all the information about some of these nominees.”.
The 44-year-old’s nomination for the role raised eyebrows in Washington, though he has held on despite the criticism ahead of his grilling from lawmakers, scheduled to take place on January 14. When asked to confirm the reports, a spokesperson from Hegseth told CBS News: “Two things we don’t discuss publicly: Whip counts and private conversations with the president.”.
Scrutiny over the appointment of Hegseth comes amid allegations of sexual misconduct against the former marine by an anonymous woman, who has accused him of sexual assault in a California hotel room back in 2017. Hegseth and his lawyers have claimed the encounter was consensual and prosecutors declined to file charges against the Fox News star following an investigation.
