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'Deeply Shameful': Watchdog, Democratic Senators Slam Republicans for Confirming Hegseth as Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth was confirmed as secretary of defense by the Senate on Friday, with all but three Republican senators—Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky—voting him through.
Jan 25, 2025
Pete Hegseth—U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial pick to lead the Pentagon—was narrowly confirmed as secretary of defense late Friday, despite a confirmation process that was rocked by allegations of sexual assault, sexist behavior, and more that critics warned made him unqualified and unfit to lead the country's largest federal agency.
"Hegseth is such a monster—just depressing for us all," wrote David Duhalde, the chair of the Democratic Socialists of America Fund on X following the Senate's confirmation of Hegseth, an army veteran and former Fox News co-host.
Hegseth was sworn in to the position on Saturday morning.
Vice President JD Vance cast a tie breaking vote to get Hegseth over the line after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) joined all of the body's Democratic and Independent senators in opposing his nomination. This was only the second time that a vice president has broken a tie for a cabinet nominee, according to CNN. The other time was when Betsy DeVos faced her 2017 Senate confirmation for Secretary of Education.
McConnell—who according to NBC News was among a group of GOP members who expressed reservations about Hegseth, but voted for an earlier procedural motion to allow Hegseth's nomination to advance to a final vote—issued a lengthy statement following his confirmation.
"Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests," McConnell wrote. "Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test. But as he assumes office, the consequences of failure are as high as they have ever been."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost both her legs while deployed to Iraq in 2004, issued a statement following the vote, writing, "it is deeply shameful that tonight—despite shouting from the rooftops that they wanted to bring meritocracy back to our military—nearly every Republican chose to confirm someone who so obviously lacks the merits to serve as our Secretary of Defense," according to Fox 32 Chicago.
"Pete Hegseth's confirmation will make our nation less safe," wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in a statement Friday. "His confirmation is a slap in the face to the quarter of a million active duty women in our military... Too few Republican leaders stood up for them."
"Republican Senators approved an unqualified nominee with a long history of alleged substance abuse, sexual harassment, and assault," she added.
Hegseth was able to secure the nomination despite multiple, explosive allegations that came to light during his nomination process. In November 2024, The Washington Post reported that Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2017 as part of a nondisclosure agreement, though according to Hegseth their encounter was consensual. In December, The New Yorkerreported that a whistle-blower report and other documents suggest that Hegseth was forced out of leadership positions due to sexist behavior, financial mismanagement, and being drunk on the job. Hegseth's former sister-in-law also provided the Senate Armed Services Committee with an affidavit earlier this week accusing him of being abusive toward one of his ex-wives. Hegseth has denied the allegations in the affidavit.
Hegseth has also come under scrutiny for making comments in the past that women should not serve in combat roles.
Tony Carrk, the executive director of the watchdog group Accountable.US, slammed the GOP senators who voted Hegseth through, writing, "this confirmation shows that most Republican Senators are willing to rubber-stamp the lowest common denominator from the Trump administration even when it puts everyday Americans in harm's way. That’s terrifying."
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'Obvious Conflict of Interest': Report Reveals 50+ US Lawmakers Hold Military Stocks
"It's abjectly terrifying that the personal benefit of any member of Congress is factored into decisions about how to wield and fund the largest military in the world," said one critic.
Sep 12, 2024
At least 50 U.S. lawmakers or members of their households are financially invested in companies that make military weapons and equipment—even as these firms "receive hundreds of billions of dollars annually from congressionally-crafted Pentagon appropriations legislation," a report published Thursday revealed.
Sludge's David Moore analyzed 2023 financial disclosures and stock trades disclosed in other reports and found that "the total value of the federal lawmakers' defense contractors stock holdings could be as much as $10.9 million."
According to the report:
The spouse of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking member of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, holds between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of shares in each of Boeing and RTX, as well as holdings in two other defense manufacturers. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), another Defense Appropriations subcommittee member, holds up to $50,000 in the stock of Boeing, which received nearly $33 billion in defense contracts last year. On the Democratic side of the aisle, Sen. John Hickenlooper (Colo.) holds up to a quarter of a million dollars' worth of stock in RTX...
The most widely held defense contractor stock among senators and representatives is Honeywell, an American company that makes sensors and guiding devices that are being used by the Israeli military in its airstrikes in Gaza. The second most commonly held defense stock by Congress is RTX, formerly known as Raytheon, the company that makes missiles for Israel's Iron Dome, among other weapons systems.
All 13 senators whose households disclosed military stock holdings voted for the most recent National Defense Authorization Act, which, as Common Dreams reported, allocated a record $886.3 billion for the U.S. military while many lawmakers' constituents struggled to meet their basic needs.
"It is an obvious conflict of interest when a member of Congress owns significant stock investments in a company and then votes to award the same company lucrative federal contracts," Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, told Sludge.
"Whether or not the official action is taken for actual self-enrichment purposes is beside the point. There is at least an appearance of self-enrichment and that appearance is just as damaging to the integrity of Congress," Holman added. "This type of conflict of interest is already banned for executive branch officials and so should be for Congress as well. The ETHICS Act would justly avoid that conflict of interest by prohibiting members of Congress and their spouses from owning stock investments altogether."
Holman was referring to the Ending Trading and Holdings In Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act, introduced earlier this year by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
In the House of Representatives—where the 2024 NDAA passed 310-118, with the approval of over two dozen members who own shares in military companies—House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul's (R-Texas) household owns up to $2.6 million in General Electric, Oshkosh Corporation, and Woodward shares. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), who sits on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, owns as much as $100,000 worth of Boeing and General Electric stock.
Other House lawmakers with potential conflicts of interest include Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who owns Leidos shares worth as much as $248,000; Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), who owns up to $100,000 worth of RTX stock; and Rep. Patrick Fallon (R-Texas), a member of the Armed Services Committee who holds Boeing stock worth between $100,000 and $250,000.
"Every American should take a long, hard look at these holdings to conceptualize the scope of Congress' entanglement with defense contractors," Public Citizen People Over Pentagon advocate Savannah Wooten told Sludge. "It's abjectly terrifying that the personal benefit of any member of Congress is factored into decisions about how to wield and fund the largest military in the world."
"Requiring elected officials to divest from the military-industrial complex before stepping into public service would create a safer and more secure world from the outset," she added.
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Progressives Praise Lewiston's Rep. Golden for Seeking Forgiveness, Backing Assault Weapon Ban
"It shouldn't have to take a tragedy in your own state to come around, but we welcome Rep. Golden in the fight to ban these weapons," said George Takei.
Oct 27, 2023
Progressives in Congress and on social media praised U.S. Rep. Jared Golden—one of the most conservative House Democrats—after he reversed course and embraced a ban on assault weapons following Wednesday night's mass shooting that left 18 people dead and 13 others wounded in his hometown of Lewiston, Maine.
"I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war, like the assault rifle used to carry out this crime," Golden said during a Thursday press conference, referring to the previous night's massacre at multiple locations. "The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure, which is why I now call on the United States Congress to ban assault rifles like the one used by the sick perpetrator of this mass killing in my hometown."
"For the good of my community, I will work with any colleague to get this done in the time that I have left in Congress," said Golden, a Marine Corps veteran who has broken with his party to vote against gun control measures including universal background checks. "To the people of Lewiston, my constituents throughout the 2nd District, to the families who lost loved ones, and to those who have been harmed, I ask for forgiveness and support as I seek to put an end to these terrible shootings."
Numerous progressive U.S. lawmakers took to social media to thank Golden.
"This is so powerful from my colleague Rep. Golden. Thank you for your humility and for giving everything you have to this fight to ban assault rifles," Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said on social media.
"My heart grieves for every lost life in your community and all those who are hurting and afraid," she added. "We must respond with action."
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote: "I respect Rep. Golden for working to protect his community in the wake of tragedy and showing integrity by calling for an assault weapons ban."
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) asserted that "if more members of Congress had your courage, we could finally get these weapons of war off the streets and out of our communities."
Congresswoman Becca Balint (D-Vt.) said: "Jared Golden is facing a hard reelection campaign. He is making a choice that is the right thing to do for his district and for this country."
Gun control campaigner Fred Guttenberg—whose 14-year-old daughter Jamie Guttenberg was murdered in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida—said he is "truly thankful" that Golden "just apologized and called for an assault weapons ban."
"Honestly, though, I am sad and angry," he added. "Just imagine if he had before... Parkland or any other shooting. My message to any elected person is to support these measures before it happens in your community and before you need to apologize."
Actor and activist George Takei wrote that "one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, Jared Golden from Maine, has apologized for opposing a ban on assault weapons in the wake of the deadly shootings in his state."
"It shouldn't have to take a tragedy in your own state to come around, but we welcome Rep. Golden in the fight to ban these weapons," he added.
Maine's other House member, Rep. Chellie Pingree, told the Portland Press Herald Thursday that she has "always believed there was no good reason to own a military-style assault weapon."
Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine—for whom Golden once worked on the Senate Homeland Security Committee—dodged reporters who on Thursday asked if she would support an assault weapons ban.
"I think it is more important that we ban very high-capacity magazines," she said. "I think that would have more input and more effectiveness. Certainly, there's always more that can be done."
Maine's other U.S. senator, Independent Angus King, expressed his incredulity over the shooting, noting what he called a "deep and long history of safe gun use in the state."
Hours before the massacre—allegedly perpetrated by an Army reservist with a history of mental health issues who remains on the run—both Collins and King voted for an amendment that critics say will make it easier for U.S. veterans with mental illness to keep or get guns. The measure passed 53-45.
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