Pete Hegseth Confirmation Hearing - An Edit: The Best of the Dems and an Independent

January 14, 2025

Senate Armed Services Committee

Excerpts from the confirmation hearing - Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)

Reed: Sexual orientation is irrelevant to the service, and the all volunteer force visibly reflects the nation it protects. Our military is more diverse than it has ever been, but more importantly, it is more lethal than it has ever been. This is not a coincidence, Mr. Hicks said. I hope you will explain why you believe such diversity is making the military weak, and how you propose to undo that without undermining military leadership and harming readiness, recruitment and retention.

Reed: Mr. Hegseth another reason I'm deeply concerned about your nomination, is your disregard for the law of armed conflict and your support for service members who have been convicted of war crimes. You have championed the pardoning of military members who were turned in by their fellow soldiers and SEALS. And let me emphasize that they weren't discovered by reporters. They were turned in by fellow soldiers and fellow seals and also pardoning military contractors convicted of killing 14 Iraqi citizens without cause. You have also advocated for the restitution of interrogation methods like waterboarding, that have been defined as torture. And you have belittled the advice and counsel of the Judge Advocate General while on deployment. In your book, “The War on Warriors,” you write, quote, ‘Should we follow the Geneva Convention? If our warriors are forced to follow rules arbitrarily and asked to sacrifice more lives to the international tribunal to feel better about themselves? Aren't we just better off and winning our wars according to our own rules?’

Reed: Mr. Hegseth you are the ninth nominee for the defense that have had the honor. Consider, as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. I have voted in favor of all your predecessors, including those in the first Trump administration. Unfortunately, you lacked the character and composure and competence to hold a position of secretary of defense

Hegseth: Because our left wing media in America today, sadly doesn't care about the truth. Not putting meritocracy first. That's the indictment that's made by those serving right now. And why we're having this conversation

Reed: Excuse me. All of your public comments don't talk about meritocracy. They talk about liberal democratic efforts that are destroying the military, that those people are enemies. That's not meritocracy. That's a political view. And your goal, as I see emerging, is to politicize the military in favor of your particular positions, which you have outlined extensively, which would be the worst blow to the professionalism of the United States military?

Reed: You've been instrumental in securing pardons for several convicted war criminals, and at least two of these cases, the military personnel who served in combat with these convicted service members were not supportive of the pardons. They did their duty as soldiers to report war crimes. Your definition of lethality seems to embrace those people who do commit war crimes, rather than those who stand up and say this is not right. So what's response to your service members who personally witnesses and took courageously reported them to their superiors?

Hegseth: Senator, as someone who's led men in combat directly and had to make very difficult decisions, I thought very deeply about the balance between legality and lethality, ensuring that the men and women on the front lines have the opportunity to destroy with and close the enemy, and that lawyers aren't the ones getting in the way. I'm not talking about disavowing, the laws of war or the Geneva Conventions or the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Sir, I'm talking about restrictive rules of engagement that these men and women behind me understand they've lived with on the battlefield, which has made it more difficult to to defeat our enemies. In many of the cases you're talking about in particular, sir. There was evidence withheld. There was prosecutorial misconduct. And as someone who looks case by case and defaults to the warfighter, to the men and women with the dust on their boots, not the second guessers in air conditioned offices in Washington, D.C. Excuse me? I look at cases the case and was proud to work with President Trump to understand those cases and ensure that our warriors are always looked out for.

Reed: But the other factor, too, is you've already disparaged in writing the Geneva Convention, the rules of law, all of these things. How will you be able to effectively lead a military in which one of the principal elements is discipline, respect for lawful authority? You have made statements to your platoon after being briefed by a JAG officer. Or by the way, would you explain what a “Jag-off” is?

Hegseth: I don't think I need to, sir.

Reed: Why not?

Hegseth: Because the men and women watching understand?

Reed: Well, perhaps some of my colleagues don't understand.

Definition - JAG officer

A JAG officer is a commissioned lawyer in the United States military who represents their branch's legal interests. JAG stands for Judge Advocate General, and JAG officers are members of the Judge Advocate General's Corps. JAG officers are sometimes responsible for prosecuting war crimes.