Defense Secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, will become the first of US President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominations to face Senate scrutiny when he appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee at 09:30 ET 14:30 GMT. LIVESTREAM
- Hegseth will receive a grilling from Democrats over personal misconduct allegations and a lack of managerial experience. Today's hearing will set the tone for upcoming hearings with other embattled nominees - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Health Secretary), Kash Patel (FBI Director), and Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence) - who are yet to have hearings scheduled.
- Key panel Democrat Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said: “I'm interested in hearing about how [Hegseth's] experience has prepared him for the job of managing 3 million people and an $850 billion a year budget,”
- According to prepared remarks, Hegseth will argue that US national security will be bolstered by “someone with dust on his boots [at] the helm” of the Department of Defense, pledging to give "new defense companies" a better chance to win contracts, and rapidly deploy emerging technologies.
- If the Armed Services Committee votes to discharge Hegseth’s nomination to the full Senate, he can drop three Republican votes and remain on track for confirmation without requiring Democrat support.
- Data from Polymarket shows Hegseth has weathered an initial wave of opposition, with an implied probability of 85% of Senate confirmation.
Figure 1: Trump’s Defense Secretary, % Implied Probability of Confirmation

Source: Polymarket