A moderate GOP senator says she will vote against confirming Pete Hegseth as defense secretary
Republican Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will not support Senate confirmation of Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump to be chosen to lead the defense ministry, citing his lack of experience and concerns over his past comments regarding women.
Several Republican senators were tight-lipped about Hegseth’s nomination as he faced criticism from members of the Armed Services Committee during his tenure. confirmation hearing in January.
“While I appreciate his brave military service and his continued commitment to our soldiers and their families, I am concerned that he lacks the experience and perspective necessary to succeed in the job,” Collins wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, leaves for a meeting with Sen. Ted Budd, RN.C., at the Russell Building on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ- Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Tom Williams)
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“His limited management experience included running two small nonprofits that had wildly different results,” Collins wrote in a lengthy social media post. “I am also concerned about a number of statements, including some in the months immediately before he was nominated, that Mr. Hegseth has made about women serving in the military. He and I had a frank conversation in December about his past statements and his apparently evolving views. I am not convinced that his attitude about women serving in combat has changed.”
