WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, spent a second day on Capitol Hill, meeting privately with Republican senators amid rising questions about his ability to effectively lead the Pentagon.
Hegseth told reporters Tuesday that he was planning to sit down with senators, even with those potentially skeptical of his nomination.
“We’re going to meet with every senator that wants to meet with us, across the board,” Hegseth as he went from office to office. “And we welcome their advice as we go through the advice and counsel process.”
Trump tapped the Fox News co-host, a former Army National Guard major and combat veteran who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, as his Secretary of Defense, typically among the first Cabinet posts to be considered by the U.S. Senate for confirmation.
But Hegseth is running into questions amid a sexual assault allegation, which he has denied, and other emerging reports about his work conduct and history.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said some of the reports are “disturbing.”
“I want to make sure that every young woman that joins the military feels respected and welcomed,” Graham told CBS News.
The South Carolina lawmaker told the AP later that he doesn’t know whether to believe the allegations, and Hegseth “has a chance to say that’s true or not true.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he's seen the reports. “I’ll get the chance to talk to him, and I’m sure he’ll address them," he said. "But my view is, have the hearing.”
Before he was tapped to serve as a weekend host of “Fox & Friends,” Hegseth served at two veterans advocacy groups, Concerned Veterans for America and Veterans For Freedom.
In new allegations this week, the New Yorker cited what it described as a whistleblower report and other documents about his time leading CVA that alleged multiple incidents of alcohol intoxication at work events, inappropriate behavior around female staffers and financial mismanagement.
NBC News reported that several unnamed current and former Fox employees who worked with Hegseth said his drinking habits raised concerns, including some who said he would show up smelling of alcohol.
The Associated Press spoke to four people who had either worked at CVA or were familiar with Hegseth’s time there who insisted on anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media or had signed nondisclosure agreements.
While the group’s all-day conferences could run late and often wind up at a nearby bar, three of the four said they had not seen Hegseth intoxicated at events.
One person who had been connected to CVA told the AP, however, that some employees had raised concerns about Hegseth’s alcohol use but said that his departure from the group was more connected to growing ideological differences between him and the network of conservative nonprofits funded by billionaire donors Charles Koch and his late brother, David Koch.
Trump is drawing from the ranks of loyalists to fill his administration and to Cabinet positions, often stunning Washington with unusual choices that are provocative and testing the senators who will be asked to confirm them under the chamber’s advise and consent role.
An early pick, Matt Gaetz, the former congressman from Florida, abruptly withdrew from consideration when it became clear that Senate support was crumbling. Gaetz, who had been investigated but never charged in a federal sex trafficking probe, faced a House Ethics investigation over sexual misconduct.
Trump's choices can only afford to lose a few detractors in the Senate, where it takes majority approval to be confirmed. Republicans will have a 53-seat majority in the new year, meaning four GOP votes could sink a nominee, if all Democrats are opposed.
Republican senators have been weighing their options.
If confirmed, Hegseth would not only be part of critical command and control of the nation’s nuclear weapons, he would be sixth in the line of succession to the presidency. It’s a position that ages its occupants and demands constant response, due to the number of middle-of-the-night contingencies that can occur when U.S. service members are put in harm’s way.
There have been private discussions among senators about the allegations and how to approach the situation, according to one person granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations.
During a closed-door meeting with about a dozen senators late Monday evening, none asked Hegseth about the allegations against him.
“You know what? The American people care about restoring our military,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after the meeting. He decried as “shameful” the criticism of Hegseth.
While Republican senators are reluctant to raise questions publicly — and several dismissed the reports outright — many of them indicated he could face tough questions in a confirmation hearing.
“That’s what the process is for,” said Utah Rep. John Curtis, an incoming freshman senator.
Questions about Hegseth and other nominees are “why a background check is important, why a committee investigation is critical,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins.
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said after meeting Monday with Hegseth that he is very supportive of the nomination.
But Tuberville said of the allegations: “If it’s to a certain degree, people aren’t going to vote to confirm him.“
Hegseth, 44, was a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends Weekend” and had been a contributor with the network since 2014. He developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.
Hegseth served in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and earning two Bronze Stars. He lacks senior military and national security experience and would oversee global crises ranging from Europe to the Middle East.
A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report recently made public.
Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and has denied any wrongdoing.
Associated Press writers Byron Tau and Kimberly Kindy and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, left, as they arrive to meet with Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, left, as they arrive to meet with Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
LUANDA, Angola (AP) — Even in the waning days of his presidency and thousands of miles from home, U.S. President Joe Biden is finding ways to celebrate trains.
Biden used the third and final day of his visit to Angola on Wednesday to showcase the Lobito Corridor railway, where the U.S. and allies are investing heavily to refurbish 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) of train lines in Zambia, Congo and Angola.
The project aims to advance the U.S. presence in a region rich in cobalt, copper and other critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies. By the end of the decade, the rail line could even go a long way toward linking southern Africa's western coast with the continent's eastern edge.
“I’m probably the most pro-rail guy in America,” Biden, the first U.S. president to visit Angola, said during a speech Tuesday evening.
Biden has long had the nickname Amtrak Joe for the 36 years he spent commuting by U.S. train from his home in Delaware to Washington while in the Senate. He said the Lobito Corridor constituted the largest U.S. investment in a train project outside the country.
On Wednesday, Biden flew from the Angolan capital of Luanda to Lobito on Africa's western coast to tour port facilities linked to the corridor with Angolan President João Lourenço, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango.
The leaders also planned to meet with representatives from companies that stand to benefit from the corridor project, including a telecommunication firm expanding cell service in the region, a food-production firm and Acrow Bridge, a Pennsylvania company that makes prefabricated steel bridges and has a contract to deliver nearly 200 to Angola.
Biden would also see an American General Electric locomotive used for cargo on the Lobito Atlantic Railway, the White House said, with the U.S. promoting the railway upgrade as a catalyst that it hopes will spark a new era of Western private sector investment in this part of Africa.
The Biden administration says the rail corridor will help business interests and counter China's growing influence in Africa. His long-awaited first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president came in a week where trade tensions between the U.S. and China over rare minerals needed in new technologies went up a notch.
In Lobito, Biden will announce $600 million in new U.S. investment for projects associated with the corridor, which has also drawn financing from the European Union, the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, a Western-led private consortium and African banks.
Biden toured the Lobito port that will provide an outlet on the Atlantic Ocean and ideally a route to the West for Africa's minerals and other exports. Under a towering blue crane, a banner read: “The Lobito Corridor Connecting Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.”
Biden announced that Congo had also committed a new $553 million direct loan to the railway to upgrade and operate more than 1,000 kilometers of line from Lobito to the Congo border.
The administration says it currently can take cargo loads of materials about 45 days to get from eastern Congo or Zambia to the market and usually involves going by truck to South Africa. Test loads run using the new rail corridor made the same journey in around 40 to 50 hours.
China, meanwhile, already has heavy investments in mining and processing African minerals and has used its Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure strategy to promote its economic and political influence around the world.
In September, China said it had signed a deal with Tanzania and Zambia to revamp a separate railway line going east from Zambia to Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam on the east coast of Africa.
The countries had previously worked together to build the railway line in the 1970s, but it fell into disrepair. China’s move to renovate it — announced on the sidelines of this year’s China-Africa forum — is seen by some analysts as the Chinese response to the Lobito Corridor.
A senior U.S. administration official called the Lobito Corridor the heart of competing with China, not as a political adversary but from a business standpoint.
The idea is rather than pumping in aid, Washington will attempt to grow U.S. influence by promoting projects that can spark investment and therefore help communities and countries over the long haul. The Lobito Corridor has become a model approach that the U.S. is looking to replicate in other parts of the world, said the official, who briefed reporters during Biden's Angola visit on condition of anonymity to offer project details that haven't yet been made public.
The corridor won't be completed for years, meaning much of the continued work would come during the administration of Republican Donald Trump, who takes office Jan. 20. The Biden White House says that Republicans in Congress and elsewhere have supported past efforts to promote African business interests through targeted investments and that such initiatives have appealed to Trump and his key advisers in the past.
Associated Press writer Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed to this report.
A sniper stands on a platform during President Joe Biden's tour of he Lobito Port Terminal in Lobito, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Angolan Minister of Transport Ricardo Daniel speaks to President Joe Biden accompanied by, from his left, President Joao Lourenco of the Republic of Angola, President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Hakainde Hichilema of the Republic of Zambia and Vice President Philip Mpango of the United Republic of Tanzania during a tour of the Lobito Port Terminal, in Lobito, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden and Chief Operating Officer of Lobito Atlantic Railway Nicolas Gregoire meet rail workers during the tour of the Lobito Port Terminal in Lobito, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden, center, and Angola's President Joao Lourenco, right, tour the Lobito Port Terminal in Lobito, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden watches a traditional dance after arriving at Catumbela airport in Angola on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A poster showing President Joe Biden and Angola's President Joao Lourenco is seen during a welcome ceremony at Catumbela airport in Angola on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A poster showing President Joe Biden and Angola's President Joao Lourenco is seen during a welcome ceremony at Catumbela airport in Angola on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport in Luanda, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport in Luanda, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Angolan soldiers escort the motorcade of President Joe Biden in Luanda, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden and Chief Operating Officer of Lobito Atlantic Railway Nicolas Gregoire tour the Lobito Port Terminal in Lobito, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden and Chief Operating Officer of Lobito Atlantic Railway Nicolas Gregoire tour the Lobito Port Terminal in Lobito, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden talks to officials before boarding Air Force One at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport in Luanda, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden disembarks Air Force One after arriving at Catumbela airport in Angola on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden walks to board Air Force One at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport in the capital, Luanda, Angola, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden watches a traditional dance after arriving at Catumbela airport in Angola on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden walks with Angola's President Joao Lourenco, at the presidential palace in the capital Luanda, Angola on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden leaves the National Museum of Slavery, in the capital Luanda, Angola on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden faces Angola's President Joao Lourenco during their meeting at the presidential palace in the capital Luanda, Angola on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden speaks at the National Museum of Slavery, in the capital Luanda, Angola on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
