U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense secretary nominee, is the most unqualified pick ever for the job.
“Being secretary of defense is a very serious job,” Duckworth said on a call with reporters Friday. “And putting someone as dangerously unqualified as Mr. Hegseth into that role is something that should scare all of us.”
Duckworth is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will vote on the former Fox News host and Army major’s nomination next week.
The second-term Democrat and former Army helicopter pilot has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon since the president-elect first announced it. Particularly, the Illinois senator has found his lack of high-level military experience to be concerning.
When Hegseth testifies before the committee, tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Duckworth said she’s planning to give him an opportunity to defend his record. She’s requested to sit down with Hegseth prior to that, but he’s only offered to meet after the hearings, Duckworth said.
The senator said she’s planning to ask him at the hearings about the largest budget he’s ever run. Leading the Pentagon requires managing a budget of more than $830 billion, she said.
She’s also planning to ask about the highest level of international negotiations he has engaged in or led. If confirmed, Hegseth would represent the U.S. at NATO, and he'd have to deal with adversarial countries like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
Also, she’d like to know the largest organization in terms of personnel he’s managed. The Department of Defense employs 3 million troops and civilian employees. Hegseth left the armed services with a rank of major, which can oversee a unit of between 300 to 1,200, according to the military.
Although she may not have time in her seven minutes to ask him about it, Duckworth has also objected to his comments questioning whether women should serve in combat roles. Duckworth lost her legs in combat after a rocket-propelled grenade took down her helicopter in Iraq in 2004.
While she’s not certain if Hegseth has the votes to be confirmed, Duckworth is hoping some of her Republican colleagues will vote their conscience and for the national security of the country rather than basing their decision on fear of retribution from Trump, she said.
“Maybe he has hidden talents we don't know about,” she said of Hegseth. “But I'm happy to sit down and meet with him and have him show me evidence that he's capable of running the largest organization in the United States government.”
