Hegseth emerges stronger from fierce Senate hearing and is on track for confirmation

No nomination is more complex and controversial for president-elect Donald Trump than that of Pete Hegseth, who could soon become one of the youngest Pentagon chiefs in all of history and one of the few who has never held elective office, a senior corporate position or a top government post. But that remains to be seen.

For now, Hegseth can claim he emerged stronger from a fierce Senate hearing where Democrats attacked him mercilessly using the media scandals of recent months. However, Trump's nominee for Defense chief remained calm, clearly answered key technical questions from Republicans, and acknowledged past mistakes that he already overcame with "God's" help.

“I have failed in things in my life and thankfully I’m redeemed by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," he said.

The hearing was, to say the least, positive, considering the fact that some skeptical Republicans have already announced they will back Hegseth if his nomination makes it to the floor.

The problem for Donald Trump's nominee is that the Senate Armed Services Committee, which today became a TV spectacle with tough Democratic questioning citing Hegseth's alleged alcohol problems and several personal controversies, is split between 13 Democrats and 14 Republicans. In other words, the Fox News anchor can't lose even one Republican on the committee for his confirmation to go to a vote in the Senate.

Still, even if the context is adverse, Hegseth managed to correctly make his case, explaining that his priority is for the U.S. Army to return to rewarding excellence and abandon inclusive policies that, in his view, lowered physical and readiness standards internally.

Throughout the hearing, Hegseth pledged to restore what he called the U.S. Army's "warrior culture," highlighting his service as a junior National Guard officer in Iraq, Afghanistan and the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an essential element in achieving a reorientation of the Pentagon, which he said in recent years was more concerned with diversity and fairness than high military standards.

For several passages, Democrats tried to unsettle an unflappable Hegseth, charging that he would alienate military women and claiming that his personal conduct and lack of experience disqualified him from being the secretary of defense of the world's largest military power. However, no Democrat revealed anything new about Hegseth, who denied the personal accusations as "anonymous smears."

He also responded forcefully to concerns about the role of women in the military and what would change with him in charge of the Pentagon.

For example, when asked about this issue by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Hegseth said he would pledge to support women continuing to serve in combat roles if they meet the same specific job standards as male soldiers.

“Women will have access to ground combat roles, given the standards remain high,” Hegseth said. “And we’ll have a review to ensure the standards haven’t been eroded in any one of these cases."

This moment in the hearing was defining, as Ernst, a potential skeptic of Hegseth's nomination, is a military veteran and sexual assault survivor and announced her unequivocal support for Donald Trump's confirmation of his nominee.

"Yes, I will be supporting President Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth," Ernst said.

In addition to his stance on getting the "woke" out of the Army, Hegseth argued that the Army needs less bureaucracy, a view widely shared by conservatives.

In particular, one moment unleashed praise for Hegseth, who posited that the United States today is unnecessarily plagued by generals at the top of the food chain.

"We won WWII with seven four-star generals. Today, we have 44 four-star generals… we don’t need more bureaucracy at the top; we need more war fighters empowered at the bottom," he said.

Hegseth also backed Israel clearly in its crusade against Hamas, asserted that Army leaders should not prioritize issues such as climate change, and convinced many skeptics along the way.

Indeed, he also won praise from some Democrats, including TV anchors such as CNN's Scott Jennings, who sharply criticized Democrats over their personal questioning.

"Pete Hegseth kicked their asses today. It wasn't even close. They didn't even lay a glove on Hegseth... The Democrats on the committee acted in such a bizarre and unprofessional way."