Some Republican senators expressed surprise and said they had little knowledge about who exactly President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense is.
“Wow,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said after Trump announced former National Guard member and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his choice for the high-ranking job.
“I’m just surprised, because the names that I’ve heard for secretary of defense have not included him,” Murkowski said.
Trump on Tuesday called Hegseth, 44, “tough, smart and a true believer in America First.”
Some senators did not know who Hegseth is or much about him.
“Who?” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said when he was asked about the choice. “I don’t know Pete. I just don’t know anything about him.”
Any choice for defense secretary must be confirmed by the Senate, which will be under Republican control, according to NBC News projections.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called Hegseth a “great choice.”
“Pete brings a lot to the table. He’s got experience, and I think he’ll be reform-minded in the areas that need reform,” Johnson said.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, expressed confidence. “I think he is going to be a very strong secretary of defense,” she said.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said, “I was surprised that I didn’t hear his name mentioned.”
“But there’s been several people’s names that’s came out of left field, too,” Mullin said. “This is where President Trump is really good about putting people in place.”
Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., called Hegseth “an impressive individual” and predicted there wouldn’t be any trouble confirming him in the Senate.
“Look, there are a lot of great options, and I’m certainly going to support President Trump and his agenda and his nominees,” Budd said. He said he thinks Hegseth is qualified and “knows how to put a great team around him.”
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., also said that he was surprised by the choice but that Trump has been doing “an excellent job” in his picks.
“I’m not going to be negative right now, because I want to learn more about his background and, you know, and his approach to this stuff, so he’ll go through the regular process,” Rounds said.
Hegseth is a combat veteran who was a captain in the Army National Guard. He served overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
He began working at Fox News in 2014 and co-hosted “Fox & Friends Weekend” in 2017, the network reported. His last day at Fox News was Tuesday, the day of Trump’s announcement, the network said.
Phil Helsel and The Associated Press contributed.
