Representative Chip Roy (Republican of Texas) rejects the allegations against Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice to head the Department of Defense, arguing that all people have committed some “indiscretions” in their past.
The remark, made on conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s show, comes as Hegseth faces charges of sexual assault and excessive drinking threatened to reject his offer to be the next Pentagon chief.
“I think Pete Hegseth was an exceptional choice,” Roy said. “I know he’s under fire in the Senate, but he’s under fire from squeamish senators who have been against everything we want to do. And so I hope that Pete lasts the whole time. I defend him and we should all defend him.”
“You know, we’ve all had some indiscretions in the past and every person has things like that,” Roy added. “But my goodness, Pete Hegseth, he has the support of so many people and he represents someone who would take on the defense establishment, and we need that, need it badly.”
Hegseth met with senators on Capitol Hill this week and worked to drum up support for his nomination to lead the Defense Department. But those efforts have run into difficulties as some lawmakers raise concerns about the former Fox News host’s past.
Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017 and signed a nondisclosure agreement as part of a financial settlement he paid the woman. He denied any wrongdoing. And on weekends This was reported by the “New Yorker” magazine. to a whistleblower report about Hegseth’s time as president of the Concerned Veterans of America from 2013 to 2016, in which he described, among other things, being drunk while working.
Hegseth vowed this week to quit drinking if confirmed as Pentagon leader.
With Democrats expected to vote against Hegseth’s confirmation, he can only afford to lose the support of three Republicans. Trump was think about alternatives to Hegsethincluding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a source told The Hill.
While Roy has no influence on whether Hegseth is confirmed because the Senate has advisory and consent powers, his comments could assist the nominee shore up public support.
Roy took the House floor Thursday to support Hegseth and some of Trump’s other nominees, arguing that the president-elect deserves to fill his Cabinet with people he wants to work with.
“I’m watching Senate Republicans do this dance of hand-wringing and worrying about the president’s nominees,” Roy said. “The president was elected by the American people to transform this city. He nominated people who want to change this city.”
“If you want to overturn every stone from everyone’s past and then say that they are incapable or undeserving of serving in a position like Secretary of Defense, as is currently the case with the targeting of Pete Hegseth “Well, maybe you should take the board out of your eye,” he added. “I’m not saying we don’t have appropriate standards for the consultation and consent process. That’s what we do and that’s what we should do. I believe in separation of powers. But the president also deserves the courtesy and respect of his own party, especially the people he nominates to transform the city. He was elected to change it.”
Roy, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, also expressed support for former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Human Services.
The two face various controversies that threaten their chances of confirmation: Gabbard, a former Democrat, does faced with skepticism for her previous comments on the Russo-Ukrainian war, which were sympathetic to Moscow and picked up by Russian state media; Kennedy, another former Democrat, has drawn attention for his vaccine skepticism.
However, Roy offered a defense for the couple.
“You don’t like Tulsi because she’s a Democrat, get over it,” Roy said. “She is no longer, she is a Republican now, but she was in this chamber, I served with her. She’s a Democrat.”
“You don’t like Bobby Kennedy because he comes from the legendary Democrat family, get over it,” he added. “I don’t agree with Bobby Kennedy on many things, but I agree with him that we need to fundamentally change our health care system, that we need to make America healthy again.”
