Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has enough support in the Senate to be confirmed, sources report.
According to CBS News, three separate sources claim Senate Majority Leader John Thune told president-elect Trump Hegseth has the votes.
When asked for comment by CBS, Thune refused, saying only, “Two things we don’t discuss publicly: Whip counts and private conversations with the president.”
Thune has said the process of confirmation will be fair, but also urged caution.
“I think these are nominees who are new enough, they’ve been going around and conducting their meetings, which I think, frankly, have gone very well, but they still have to make their case in front of the committee. And, you know, we don’t know all the information about some of these nominees.”
Hegseth is a decorated army veteran and former host for Fox News, and seemingly the perfect candidate to carry out Donald Trump’s agenda of going “back to basics” and improving America’s warfighting capabilities while gutting bloated departments and eliminating “woke” policies.
His nomination, however, has been dogged by rumours of personal misconduct, including sexual assault; although Hegseth has never been charged.
Accusations of alcoholism have led Hegseth to pledge he will give up drinking if he is confirmed as secretary of defense.
Hegseth’s confirmation hearing is scheduled for 14 January.