Pete Hegseth heads to Capitol Hill for a heated hearing on his record, plans to shake up the Pentagon

Pete Hegseth is set to take the hot seat before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday in what is sure to be fireworks.

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Hegseth to shake things up Pentagon as his secretary of defense, but the former Fox News anchor has been embroiled in controversies about which he can be expected to be questioned by Democrats on the committee.

“Democrats are certainly not going to make this a walk in the park by any means,” one Republican aide said.

“You’re going to see that the Democrats are pretty organized, they’re thinking strategically to make sure everything is covered and it’s not a hearing that’s too repetitive,” one senior Democratic aide told Fox News Digital.

HOW THE SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION PROCESS WORKS

“I don’t think it will be particularly hostile, but I think it will be very difficult. It will focus a lot on what we should expect from the candidate for this job and where he does not satisfy,” the assistant continued. “There are questions about the things he’s done, his character and his leadership.”

Hegseth will be the first of Trump’s controversial change agents to face scrutiny from lawmakers.

Republicans can be expected to play defense, casting Hegseth as a decorated combat veteran who will hold the military accountable after years of failed audits and DEI initiatives.

With little hope of winning Democratic votes, Hegseth will have to win over moderate Republicans who have previously expressed skepticism about his nomination.

Democrats are expected to censure him because of his past conduct and his qualifications to lead the government’s largest agency, which employs 3 million people.

HUNDREDS OF VETERANS WILL DESCEND ON DC TO MARCH IN SUPPORT OF PETE HEGSETH’S CONFIRMATION

Army 44-year-old National Guard veteran, who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is relatively young and inexperienced compared to past defense secretaries, having retired as a major. But Republicans say they don’t want someone who has risen to the top, who is entrenched in the Pentagon establishment.

Hegseth is certain to face questions about the sexual assault allegation from 2017. He admitted he paid his accuser an undisclosed sum to remain silent at the time for fear of losing his job, but denies any non-consensual sex took place.

Former employees at veterans groups that Hegseth led accused him of financial mismanagement and heavy drinking, according to a New Yorker report, and NBC News reported that his drinking “concerned” colleagues at Fox News.

Hegseth denies the allegations and said he would not drink “a drop of alcohol” if confirmed to lead the Department of Defense.

The hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m., will be loaded with veterans who traveled to Washington, DC, to support Hegseth in the face of attacks.

For weeks, Hegseth visited Capitol Hill to meet with senators, including those who are skeptical of him. Last Wednesday, he met with the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and the meeting apparently did not go well.

“Today’s meeting did not address my concerns about Mr. Hegseth’s lack of qualifications and raised more questions than it answered,” Reed said in a statement.

Hegseth must first win a majority vote in the House Armed Services Committee, which is made up of 14 Republicans and 13 Democrats, meaning a single Republican defector could kill the vote.

Then he needs to win a simple majority in the Senate, which means he can afford to lose more than three Republican votes.

“I think he kind of knows that he only needs Republican votes to get to work from now on,” the Democratic aide said. “His job is just to keep his head down and not say anything that would open up space for these [Republicans]that I think many of them really don’t want to vote for him, that they have reason to reconsider. So I expect he will try to say very little and say it very calmly and politely.”

On the committee, all eyes will be on Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, herself a veteran who initially seemed hesitant about Hegseth. After two meetings with the candidate, Ernst said she will support him in the confirmation process and looks forward to a fair hearing. She did not commit to vote for him.

The senators will also comb through Hegseth’s long record of public comment on TV and the five books he has written.

One such belief is that women should not fight in combat roles.

“Dads make us take risks. Moms put training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military, especially not in combat units,” he wrote in his latest book, “War Against Warriors,” published in 2024.

“Men, he sighed, are biologically stronger, faster and bigger. Dare I say, physically superior,” Hegseth added.

PETE HEGSETH SAYS HE HAS NOT HEARD FROM WEST POINT SINCE EMPLOYEE ‘ERROR’ DENIED HIS ACCEPTANCE

On the Nov. 7 episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, which aired just days before Hegseth was selected as defense secretary, the candidate said, “I’m saying frankly that we shouldn’t have women in combat roles.”

Hegseth later told Fox News in December that women are some of America’s “greatest warriors.”

“I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued, that somehow I don’t support women in the military; some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women,” he said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Members of the military “love our nation, they want to defend that flag, and they do it every day around the world. I don’t assume anything,” he added.