SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
tammy duckworth
'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."
Keep ReadingShow Less
3 Reasons the Senate Should Reject Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense
I will protest the nomination of Fox News commentator and Trump’s buddy Pete Hegseth to lead the DOD over sexual assault allegations, his views on women in the military, and his history of financial mismanagement.
Jan 14, 2025
On January 14 at 9:30 am, the Fox News commentator and Army National Guard Major Pete Hegseth is scheduled to be questioned by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in a confirmation hearing on President-elect Donald Trump's nomination for him to be Secretary of Defense.
I, along with many other women and men military veterans, will be at the hearing to strongly protest Hegseth's nomination and demand that the committee refuse to send the nomination forward for a vote of the entire Senate.
I am an unlikely protester. I served 29 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves. I retired as a colonel. I was also a U.S. diplomat for 16 years and was on the team that reopened the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan in December 2001. I resigned from the U.S. government in March 2003 in opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq.
Sexual Assault Allegations
I will protest lackluster Army National Guard Major Pete Hegseth's nomination on several points, but my primary concern is his physical and psychological violence toward women.
I am 78 years old. I joined the Army in 1967 when less than 1% of U.S. military forces were women. Now, 17.5% of U.S. military forces are women.
Sexual assault in the military is rampant, and Hegseth has a history of sexual violence toward women. He secretly paid a financial settlement to a woman who had accused him of raping her in 2017.
Even Hegseth's mother, Penelope Hegseth, in 2018, during Hegseth's divorce proceedings from his second wife, strongly criticized his treatment of women. In an email obtained by The New York Times, Hegseth's mother wrote:
As a woman and your mother I feel I must speak out... You are an abuser of women—that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth. [...] It's time for a someone (I wish it was a strong man) to stand up to your abusive behavior and call it out, especially against women. [...] On behalf of all the women (and I know it's many) you have abused in some way, I say... get some help and take an honest look at yourself.
The Associated Press reported that "Tim Palatore, Hegseth's attorney, has revealed that the woman who made the allegations was paid an undisclosed sum in 2023 as part of a confidential settlement to head off the threat of what he described as a baseless lawsuit."
A 22-page police report was released in response to a public records request and offers the first detailed account of what the woman alleged to have transpired—one that is at odds with Hegseth's version of events. The report cited police interviews with the alleged victim, a nurse who treated her, a hotel staffer, another woman at the event, and Hegseth.
Considering the horrific history of sexual assault in the military, Hegseth's payoff to someone who has accused him of sexual assault must disqualify Hegseth from confirmation as Secretary of Defense.
With sexual assault in the military a continuing problem for women…and for men, there is no way that a person who has been involved in even allegations of sexual assault should be Secretary of Defense… or president, for that matter, but that's another issue for evangelical Christians, Catholics, and other religious conservatives who voted for Trump to explain to their daughters.
The number of sexual assaults in the U.S. military is likely two to four times higher than government estimates, according to a study from Costs of War Project at Brown University's Watson Institute. "During and beyond the 20 years of the post-9/11 wars, independent data suggest that actual sexual assault prevalence is two to four times higher than DOD estimations—75,569 cases in 2021 and 73,695 cases in 2023," the authors wrote in the report, which was released August 14, 2024.
The Costs of War Project report comes a year after a Pentagon report found that reports of sexual assault at the country's three military academies increased by over 18% between 2021 and 2022, setting a new record.
A 2016 Department of Veterans Affairs study of over 20,000 post-9/11 veterans and service members found that 41.5% of women and 4% of men experienced some form of sexual trauma while serving. One in three women and 1 in 50 men have reported military sexual trauma during VA healthcare screenings.
And finally, if the previous concern about on sexual assault allegations isn't enough to torpedo Hegseth's nomination, his statements on women's role in the military should sink his nomination.
Hegseth's Negative View of the Role of Women in the Military
In a podcast, Hegseth said the military "should not have women in combat roles" and that "men in those positions are more capable." In another podcast he said that female soldiers "shouldn't be in my infantry battalion."
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former Army National Guard member and a Purple Heart recipient, said Hegseth was "dangerous, plain and simple." Duckworth was one of the first women in the Army to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She lost both of her legs and partial use of her right arm in 2004 after a rocket-propelled grenade struck her helicopter. "Where do you think I lost my legs? In a bar fight? I'm pretty sure I was in combat when that happened," she told CNN. "It just shows how out of touch he is with the nature of modern warfare if he thinks that we can keep women behind some sort of imaginary line, which is not the way warfare is today."
Additionally, Sen. Duckworth added: "It's frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that he's paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him... This is not the kind of person you want to lead the Department of Defense."
If sexual assault issues and his negative view of women's role in the military do not convince the Senate's Armed Services Committee that Hegseth's nomination should not go forward, then the mismanagement of funds of tiny organizations compared to the massive Department of Defense budget should take him out of consideration for the extraordinary position of Secretary of Defense.
Mismanagement of Tiny Organizations Compared to the Massive Department of Defense
In the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct while in the organizations, Hegseth was forced to resign from the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran, Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.
According to CBS, "Hegseth received a six-figure severance payment and signed a non-disclosure agreement when he exited the organization Concerned Veterans of America" in 2016. "The payment came amid allegations of financial mismanagement, repeated incidents of intoxication and sexual impropriety, as well as dissension among its leaders over Hegseth's foreign policy views," CBS reported.
Prior to joining Concerned Veterans for America, Hegseth faced allegations of financial mismanagement from Vets for Freedom (VFF), where he worked from 2007 to 2010.
"Donors were concerned their money was being wasted and arranged for VFF to be merged with another organization, Military Families United, which took over most of its management," CBS reported further. "Revenue at VFF dwindled to $268,000 by 2010 and by 2011, the organization's revenue was listed as $22,000. Hegseth joined Concerned Veterans for America the following year."
Margaret Hoover, host of the PBS program "Firing Line" and a former adviser to Vets for Freedom, said in an interview on CNN that Hegseth had managed the organization "very poorly." Hoover expressed doubt about his ability to run the sprawling Defense Department when he had struggled with a staff of less than 10 people, and a budget of under $10 million.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Senate GOP Blocks IVF Bill, Showing How Extreme 'Whole Party Is'
"This is the third time they've blocked legislation to protect IVF nationwide," said the sponsor, Sen. Tammy Duckworth. "This is who Republicans are."
Jun 13, 2024
After blocking a vote on the Right to Contraception Act last week, U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday similarly prevented the chamber from weighing in on "a bill to protect and expand nationwide access to fertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization."
Only Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined with Democrats for the 48-47 procedural vote on Sen. Tammy Duckworth's (D-Ill.) Right to IVF Act, which needed three-fifths majority support to hold a final vote in the chamber.
"IVF access has helped countless American families to form and grow. This bill would have protected their access to this healthcare and all the hope it represents amidst active MAGA threats to ban IVF," Indivisible said on social media Thursday. "Following this vote on the Right to IVF Act, all those people now know exactly where their senators stand."
"This is the kind of thing Democrats need to do more of. Go on offense. Force Republicans on the record. Don't let them say one thing and do another," the group asserted just months away from the November general election. "Republicans have waffled on this for months. When finally forced to take action, the GOP was too chicken."
Indivisible emphasized that "this legislation contains basic, popular things that actually enjoy wide support among Democratic and Republican voters alike. It would have been safe and frankly smart for most of the GOP to vote for it. But this shows how loyal to anti-choice extremists the whole party is."
"This amounts to a total refusal to protect our access to reproductive healthcare. It is truly indefensible."
Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—who changed his vote to "no" so he can bring the bill up again—said on the chamber's floor Thursday that "it is a contradiction to claim you are pro-family but then turn around and block protections for IVF."
"In a perfect world a bill like this would not be necessary," Schumer argued, "but after the fiasco of the Alabama Supreme Court decision, and the generally MAGA views of some on the [U.S.] Supreme Court, Americans are genuinely worried that IVF is the next target of anti-choice extremists."
The Alabama Supreme Court in February delivered what critics called a "radically theocratic" decision, recognizing frozen embryos as children. IVF clinics swiftly stopped operating in the state and fears about the future of fertility treatments mounted nationwide.
Alabama state legislators swiftly worked to pass new IVF protections, but the Mobile Infirmary Health and the Center for Reproductive Medicine said in March that "the law falls short of addressing the fertilized eggs currently stored across the state and leaves challenges for physicians and fertility clinics trying to help deserving families have children of their own."
Since then, many GOP political figures across the country have claimed to support such in vitro fertilization—including the 49 Senate Republicans who signed a Wednesday statement led by Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who also pushed a competing IVF bill. However, Democratic leaders and reproductive rights advocates warn that like abortion and birth control, fertility care remains at risk of being restricted by right-wingers unless Congress passes legislation to protect it.
"Republicans talk a big game. But they will vote to block protections for IVF, just like they did for contraception," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said before the vote. "Talk is cheap. Only Democrats are fighting to protect abortion, contraception, and IVF."
Duckworth—who led the bill alongside Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.)—declared: "This is the third time they've blocked legislation to protect IVF nationwide. This is who Republicans are."
Campaigners were similarly critical on Thursday. Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director and CEO of MomsRising, said in a statement that "it is shameful, and it is harmful that U.S. Senate Republicans today refused to take the simple, necessary step of passing a wildly popular bill to protect access to in vitro fertilization."
"Together with Republicans' refusal to enshrine our right to contraception into federal law and to codify Roe v. Wade, this amounts to a total refusal to protect our access to reproductive healthcare. It is truly indefensible," Rowe-Finkbeiner continued. "The need for a federal law is indisputable in the wake of the appalling actions by Alabama legislators who have still not clarified that embryos are not people with the same rights as children, and legislative proposals that threaten IVF access in other states."
After listing the Right to IVF Act's provisions and noting the thousands of babies born thanks to such care, she concluded that "no family should ever have to fear that access to IVF will be denied or that they will be prosecuted for using it. But Republicans in the U.S. Senate today refused to offer that simple protection. Moms will not forget this vote."
In addition to deciding which party will control each chamber of Congress, U.S. voters in November are set to choose between Democratic President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump, who has bragged about appointing half of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.
"I have long said that overturning Roe v. Wade was just the beginning of a full-on attack on fundamental freedoms, and this is the latest indication that extremists plan to go much further," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a campaign statement about the Senate vote on Thursday.
"Unlike Donald Trump, President Biden and I believe a politician should never come between a woman and her doctor—whether that be for abortion care, contraception, or treatment like IVF," she added. "In November, Americans have a chance to stand up for reproductive freedom of all forms by rejecting Donald Trump and his extremist allies."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular