Sen. Duckworth Says Hegseth Is Trump’s ‘Least Qualified’ Cabinet Pick
Source: FOREIGN POLICY
Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report. It’s executive order-palooza week in Washington.
Here’s what’s on tap for the day: Sen. Tammy Duckworth doesn’t mince her words about Trump’s defense secretary-nominee, a senior Iranian official says Tehran wants to talk, and newly minted Secretary of State Marco Rubio may be packing his bags for Panama.
In a statement to NBC News, Samantha Hegseth said there was no physical abuse in her marriage to Pete Hegseth. “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer,” she said in an email response to NBC News.
3 a.m. calls. In our interview with Duckworth, the senator questioned whether Hegseth had the requisite experience to handle contentious conversations with his counterparts from Russia and China.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Hegseth is not going to be able to ‘aww, shucks’ his way through one of those confrontations. And what’s going to happen is American troops are going to become more vulnerable,” Duckworth said. “We’re talking about the middle-of-the-night 3 a.m. phone call when Chinese fighter jets come within meters of American fighter jets.”
Duckworth voted to confirm Jim Mattis and Mark Esper to serve as defense secretary during the first Trump administration. “I felt that they would not jeopardize our military’s readiness,” she said. “But Mr. Hegesth will jeopardize our readiness simply through his lack of experience.”
Hegseth’s team did not immediately respond to SitRep’s request for comment.
ASEAN who? On the substance of what successive administrations have identified as the primary national security challenge facing the United States—peer competition with China—Duckworth said she was heartened to hear Hegseth speak during his hearing about the Indo-Pacific and Trump’s 2018 National Defense Strategy.
“It gave me an ounce of hope,” said the senator, who asked Hegseth to name a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), what type of agreements they have with the United States, and how many countries were in the grouping. Hegseth said he couldn’t name the exact number of ASEAN nations but referred to U.S. allies South Korea, Japan, and Australia, none of which are members of the bloc.
Receipts. Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee noted with dismay that Hegseth had failed to meet with them prior to the hearing to discuss their concerns about his nomination. Ranking member Jack Reed was the only member of the panel to sit down with Hegseth before the hearing.
Aides to Hegseth have rejected the claim that he refused to meet with Democrats on the committee. “Here’s the thing, I’m a woman of color, and I keep my receipts,” Duckworth said.
Emails between Duckworth’s office and the Trump transition’s team seen by Foreign Policy show a transition official proposing that Hegseth meet with Duckworth on Jan. 15—the day after his confirmation hearing.
By: Amy Mackinnon
Next Article Previous Article