Senator Joni Ernst expected to be key to fate of Trump’s Pentagon pick; media reports say Hegseth faced HR investigation over Fox Christmas party anticsGood morning, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, will be back once again on Capitol Hill today to try to convince Republican senators that he’s the right man to lead the Pentagon. Reports of excessive drinking, financial mismanagement and poor treatment of women, as well as a sexual assault allegation, have dogged his nomination over the past days, with several conservative lawmakers expressing doubts over approving him for the job. But the most important voice in determining his fate has not piped up yet: Iowa’s Republican senator Joni Ernst. The army veteran and sexual assault survivor met with Hegseth yesterday but said little publicly about their talk. Her views on him will be pivotal in determining whether the former Fox News host’s nomination advances, or goes the way of Matt Gaetz.Meanwhile, the New York Times has uncovered more details of incidents Hegseth was involved in while employed by the conservative network. These include another story of him drinking to excess, as well as an incident at a Christmas party eight years ago that led to an investigation from Fox News’s human resources department. We’ll see what Republican senators have to say about that throughout today.Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be together in public again at 6pm ET to light the national Christmas tree outside the White House. The pair have not been seen together much since Harris lost last month’s presidential election to Trump.Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are heading to the Capitol today to promote the Department of Government Efficiency, their unorthodox, Trump-sanctioned idea to cut spending and downsize Washington’s federal organs.The House committee investigating the attempted assassination of Trump will hear testimony from acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe Jr, and will also mark up its final report. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/dec/05/trump-hegseth-defense-drinking-us-politics-latest-updates
Author : Chris Stein in Washington
Publish date : 2024-12-05 14:01:43
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
Pete Hegseth’s nomination hangs on key senator as more details of drinking emerge – US politics live
