Tipsheet

Pete Hegseth Shuts Down Democratic Senators Grilling Him on Women in Combat

Jeff Charles
Jeff Charles  |  January 14, 2025 12:45 PM

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, faced a barrage of questions about his past statements on women serving in the military during his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

In particular, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) lashed out at Hegseth for his previous comments in which he argued that women should not serve in combat roles in the military.

Shaheen said Hegseth had “made a number of surprising statements about women serving in the military,” referring to comments he made during a 2024 appearance on the “Shawn Ryan Show” in which he said, “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles” and argued that it “hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, [and] has made fighting more complicated.”

The senator pointed out, "There are more women serving now” who “make up a critical part of our military.”

Hegseth agreed, saying women have made “amazing contributions across all aspects of our battlefield.”

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The nominee further clarified that “when I’m talking about that issue, it’s not about the capabilities of men and women; it’s about standards. This committee has talked a lot about standards, standards that we, unfortunately, over time, have seen eroded in certain duty positions, certain schools, and certain places, which affects readiness, which is what I care about the most: readiness on the battlefield.”

When it was Gillibrand’s turn to question Hegseth, she instead took the opportunity to engage in a bit of grandstanding, savaging the nominee for his comments about women in combat roles, characterizing them as “so hurtful to the men and women who are currently serving in the U.S. military, harmful to morale, harmful to good order and discipline.”

If you are saying that women shouldn't be serving in the military, and I'm going to read you your quotes because the quotes themselves are terrible. You will have to change how you see women to do this job well, and I don't know if you are capable of that.

Gillibrand continued her diatribe about Hegseth’s past remarks, saying they are “brutal and they’re mean, and they disrespect men and women who are willing to die for this country.”

She didn’t stop there. The senator discussed the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, saying America “lost so many crucial personnel” because of the policy introduced under the Clinton administration.

You said in your statement, you don't want politics in the DOD. Everything you've said in these public statements is politics. I don't want women; I don't want moms. What's wrong with a mom, by the way? Once you have babies, you, therefore, are no longer able to be lethal. I mean, you're basically saying women, after they have children, can't ever serve in the military in a combat role. It's a silly thing to say. It's a silly thing to say beneath the position that you are aspiring to. To denigrate LGBTQ service members is a mistake. If you are a sharpshooter, you're as lethal, regardless of what your gender identity is regardless of who you love. So please know this to be a true statement.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) took a more measured tone, arguing that if women are able to meet the high standards of a combat role, they should be allowed to serve in that capacity and asked whether Hegseth agreed.

The nominee affirmed her statements.

My answer is yes, exactly the way that you caveated it. Yes, U.S. women will have access to ground combat roles, combat roles, given the standards remain high, and will have a review to ensure the standards have not been eroded in any one of these cases. That'll be part of one of the first things we do at the Pentagon is reviewing that in a gender-neutral way, the standards, ensuring readiness and meritocracy is front and center. But absolutely, it would be the privilege of a lifetime, if confirmed, to be the Secretary of Defense for all men and women in uniform who fight so heroic. They have so many other options. They decided to put their right hand up for our country, and it would be an honor to have a chance to lead them.

So far, Hegseth has handled these questions, as well as the sexual assault allegations against him, expertly. Instead of allowing Democrats to run roughshod over him, he is sticking to his points – and his perspective on women in the military would likely resonate with most of the American public.