Hegseth: I'll Restore 'Warrior Ethos' to Pentagon

The confirmation hearing for one of the highest-profile of President-elect Trump's nominees gets underway in DC on Tuesday—former Fox host Pete Hegseth, who may become the next defense secretary.

• 'Warrior ethos:' The 44-year-old Army vet will promise to restore "the warrior ethos to the Pentagon" in his opening statement, a copy of which was obtained by Axios. "It is true that I don't have a similar biography to defense secretaries of the last 30 years," Hegseth will say. "But, as President Trump also told me, we've repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly 'the right credentials'—whether they are retired generals, academics or defense contractor executives—and where has it gotten us?"
• Day one: Hegseth's chances of confirmation have been rising steadily, but Democrats will likely go after him hard on day one over allegations of sexual abuse, his previously stated view that women should not serve in combat roles, and worries about his drinking, reports Politico. Hegseth can't afford to lose a single GOP vote on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The story lays out what's in store.

• Background check: The FBI did not interview a woman who accused Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017, per NBC News and the Washington Post. Nor did the agency interview Hegseth's two ex-wives, though it's not clear why because it's protocol, per NBC. Democratic senators already are criticizing the background check as inadequate.
• Not much to see: Republicans who have seen the FBI's report on Hegseth say it contains no bombshells, reports Punchbowl. "Unremarkable" is the word used in the news report. "All of the Dems' hopes and dreams crushed with one word," tweeted Hegseth adviser Arthur Schwartz, per Breitbart.
• Pressure campaign? At the New Yorker, Jane Mayer reports that the president-elect's transition team "has waged an intense, and in many ways unprecedented, behind-the-scenes campaign ahead of the hearing to intimidate and silence potential witnesses, aimed at keeping Republican senators in line and in the dark."

(More Pete Hegseth stories.)