Editorial: Confirm Pete Hegseth for a strong national defense

Pete Hegseth is a good man who will help restore our deterrence and remove wokeness from the military. It's in Republican senators' personal and political interests to give Trump his pick.

Senate Republicans should confirm Pete Hegseth to be President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense because he's the right man for the job, it would be unprecedented to reject the president's choice, and because Hegseth understands how to deter our enemies.

While the media lynch mob has singled out Hegseth for smears, it would be a calamitous mistake for the Senate to go along with Jane Mayer and reject this well-qualified nominee.

First, Hegseth is absolutely qualified to lead the Department of Defense (DOD) in a way that puts American interests first. He served with distinction, and his career after leaving the military shows he has the knowledge and tenacity needed to be an effective secretary. Hegseth’s well-known leadership of veterans organizations is as notable as his defense of soldiers who were charged with politically-motivated accusations by a weaponized bureaucracy. This experience gives him unique insight into how the bureaucracy operates and how to keep politics out of the process, especially when soldiers are the victims.

Second, since President Bill Clinton was in office, senators from the president-elect’s own party have only voted against the incoming POTUS’s nominees twice. It almost never happens. And those “no” votes were not enough to stop the confirmation from happening. It would be unprecedented for Republican senators to vote down a crucial cabinet nominee from the president of their party — especially after Trump won a resounding victory, outperforming almost every Republican senator in the polls.

As former Republican Senate staff, we know voters love our Republican senators. But let's be realistic: if our voters had to choose between Republican senators and Trump, we know who they would pick. It's basic political prudence to not force voters to make that choice.

Finally, Hegseth is solid on policy. While the left mocks his time on Fox & Friends, he has years of being on record on foreign policy, criticizing President Barack Obama for the failed Iran deal, criticizing President Joe Biden's feckless foreign policy and failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, supporting President Trump's decision to take out Iran's terrorist mastermind Qassam Soleimani, and recognizing that Israel is our ally while Hamas is our enemy. These are mainstream Republican views that Republican senators should embrace. Hegseth is not some fringe, Iran sympathizer working out of the Quincy Institute or from Columbia University’s faculty lounge. He's a serious, articulate advocate of Trump's foreign policy.

Whatever Hegseth’s personal shortcomings, accusations against him are based on alleged and unconfirmed events from years ago, and they happened before he re-committed his life to Christ. Additionally, the vast majority of accusations have come from anonymous sources reported by liberal outlets (a parallel to the ordeal surrounding Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings).

Hegseth has acknowledged his past mistakes, while vigorously and credibly proclaiming his innocence against the worst — and anonymous — accusations. Is that a reason to reject him and leave Trump without a well-qualified Secretary of Defense? Absolutely not.

Pete Hegseth is a good man who will help restore our deterrence and remove wokeness from the military. It's in Republican senators' personal and political interests to give Trump his pick.

Confirm Pete.