Americans didn’t learn much about Pentagon nominee Pete Hegseth at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, but they did learn more about the world’s greatest nondeliberative body. Democrats mostly played into Mr. Hegseth’s hands with questions he easily parried, while Republicans asked little of substance.
The most effective Democratic questioning came from Virginia’s Tim Kaine, who wanted to know why Mr. Hegseth didn’t disclose to the Trump team a settlement he paid to a woman who accused him of sexual assault. Mr. Hegseth kept saying he was “falsely charged” but never answered the question.
Many Democrats wasted their time framing Mr. Hegseth’s previous comments on women in combat as if this were 1994. But Mr. Hegseth said he now believes women should be able to serve in the armed forces as long as they can meet the same physical standards as men.
Republicans didn’t do much scrutinizing. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) noted that Senators sometimes show up drunk for votes at night and cheat on their wives, but they aren’t in the chain of command of U.S. military forces. Tim Sheehy (R., Mont.), after opening his remarks by asking how many genders there are, did ask about Navy shipbuilding, to which Mr. Hegseth basically said Donald Trump wants to build ships. No details.
Ted Budd (R., N.C.) asked what the U.S. should do about its shortage of fighter aircraft, and Mr. Hegseth said he looked forward to “looking under the hood” once confirmed. He gave the same vague answer to Sen. Deb Fischer (R., Neb.) when she inquired whether the nominee supports a “nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile system” to counter Russian and Chinese nuclear capabilities.
Mr. Hegseth made noises about restoring U.S. military deterrence, and that’s something. But it appears we’re on track to have a secretary of Defense whose real views are a mystery. Let’s hope he rises to the occasion.
