(CNN) — Donald Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth to run the Defense Department is in jeopardy amid questions from some key GOP senators over whether he’s fit for the job.
The pressure is forcing the president-elect’s team to maneuver behind the scenes to avoid a second Cabinet pick from collapsing amid a Republican revolt, all while alternate names for Defense secretary, should Hegseth falter, begin to emerge.
No Republicans have said they will not support Hegseth, but even some of the GOP senators closest to Trump, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, are now wondering whether Hegseth can survive the tightrope walk to confirmation, sending an ominous signal for the incoming White House.
Hegseth will need to limit defections to three GOP senators, assuming all Democrats vote against him, and there are already more than three senators who are uncertain if they’ll back him.
“He obviously has a chance to defend himself here. But some of this stuff is – it’s going to be difficult,” Graham, a longtime military veteran and South Carolina Republican, said on Tuesday. Hegseth, who has denied any wrongdoing, is under intense scrutiny amid a series of misconduct allegations, including a sexual assault allegation from 2017, which he has denied and in which no charges were filed.
“He has not been forthright with the Transition team staff and the president-elect and vice president-elect,” a senior Trump transition source told CNN, noting that as of Tuesday evening, Hegseth’s nomination is in trouble. The source pointed to Wednesday – when Hegseth is expected to be interviewed on Fox, after his mother appeared on the network in the morning – as “absolutely critical.”
Also on Wednesday, Hegseth is set to meet with Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican and military veteran whose opinion of him is expected to be influential.
Some Hill Republicans have said they are privately watching for potential alternatives, including Ernst, according to a person familiar with the conversations.
Trump’s allies involved in the transition process have been compiling a list of alternative candidates in recent days in the event Hegseth’s road to confirmation appears destined to implode, multiple sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. Ernst and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are among the names under consideration.
DeSantis, who served in the Navy as a JAG officer, is interested in serving as defense secretary if he is formally offered the job, two sources close to the Florida governor told CNN. His name was on the initial list of candidates for secretary of defense that Trump was shown, according to a person familiar, and the president-elect and DeSantis have discussed the Florida governor potentially leading the Pentagon. CNN has reached out to a representative for DeSantis for comment.
Even as many GOP senators insisted to reporters this week that they haven’t asked Hegseth about the allegations in private conversations with him, other GOP senators and senior aides are growing frustrated by the drip-drip of negative coverage about him.
The incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, told CNN that he expects to see a whistleblower report outlining allegations of misconduct during Hegseth’s time running a veterans’ group. The New Yorker this week detailed the allegations in the report.
“I’m sure I’ll see it,” the Mississippi Republican told CNN. The New Yorker did not name the employees who compiled the whistleblower report and CNN has not independently reviewed the report. Other reports have also emerged about Hegseth’s conduct while employed at Fox News.
“There are significant concerns more accusations are going to come out from his time at Fox News,” the transition source told CNN.
Hegseth and his attorney remained defiant Wednesday morning.
“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers,” Hegseth posted on X. “The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump —and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth. Our warriors never back down, & neither will I.”
Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Hegseth, said they are “going to address these concerns head on” and said the nominee “is not in any way considering withdrawing.”
“All of the claims that would form the basis of replacing him are false and are things that could be easily countered by the facts,” Parlatore added.
Alternate names emerge
People involved in Trump transition planning for the Pentagon started floating other options after the first allegations about Hegseth surfaced, driven in large part by concerns that he could face a similar “math problem” as Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from consideration as Trump’s attorney general pick last month.
Trump’s transition team was blindsided by the 2017 sexual assault allegation against Hegseth – and then again after the related police report surfaced. As an avalanche of media reports on Hegseth’s alleged past transgressions have emerged, the patience of many in Trump’s orbit has grown thin.
And while Trump’s team has carefully choreographed Hegseth’s first few days on the Hill in an attempt to create a sense of positive momentum – what one Senate GOP aide described as “operation warp speed coalition-building” – expressions of doubt from Republican senators have continued to surface.
Hegseth, a former conservative commentator, has devoted recent days to meeting many of Trump’s closest allies, including some who appeared on Hegseth’s own program during his time at Fox News.
Some Trump advisers believe picking a senator to fill the slot would reduce the controversial nomination fights ahead and allow the president-elect’s team to focus their efforts on the confirmation process for key law enforcement and intelligence roles.
Ernst is widely viewed as willing to accept the role and, most importantly, confirmable, the sources said. She recently spent several days at Mar-a-Lago, where she discussed Trump’s Cabinet nominees as well as plans related to DOGE, according to her social media posts.
Other Trump allies are floating Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty for the role, according to a fourth source familiar with the matter.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Ernst and Hagerty.
One source close to both Trump and Hegseth, however, pushed back on the notion that anyone else was being seriously considered for the role, or that there was any sort of official list being made of replacement candidates.
Deepening questions
Key Senate Republicans have recently said they believe Hegseth must undergo an FBI background check and a confirmation hearing before they are ready to vote yes – comments that coincided with the transition announcing on Tuesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department that would unlock the government vetting process.
Still, it is unclear how many of Trump’s candidates to lead various agencies and departments will be submitted to the FBI for background checks.
With the Senate’s narrow margins next year, the focus will be on more moderate and establishment GOP voices like Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as incoming Sen. John Curtis of Utah.
“As I’ve repeatedly said to you, I believe that we need an FBI background check to evaluate the allegations,” Collins told CNN on Tuesday, adding that Hegseth should complete the usual questionnaire about his background and participate in a public hearing. Collins has not yet met with Hegseth.
The fact that allegations against Hegseth revolve around sexual assault and women serving in military combat roles – two issues Republicans have led the way in reforming – have only added to the anxieties that his nomination may be doomed.
Commenting on the Hegseth selection, Graham said, “Leadership comes from the top. And I want to make sure that every young woman who joins the military feels welcomed and respected.”
Republicans are closely watching Ernst, who – as the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate – has raised concerns about Hegseth’s prior comments that women should not serve in combat roles.
Ernst has previously said that she wants to have “a hard discussion” with him about the role of women in combat roles.
Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday whether he believed women should be in combat. His response: “I think they’re already in combat.”
But the senior transition source underscored how critical Hegseth’s meeting will be with Ernst, who’s spoken out about surviving mental and physical abuse by her former husband and being raped by a boyfriend in college and has worked to combat military sexual assault.
“If she isn’t comfortable with Pete and he doesn’t answer her questions about women in the military and about sexual assault – and she’s a survivor – if she doesn’t leave the meeting supporting him, there are about 5 or 6 Republican senators who will oppose his nomination,” the source said.
And it’s not just Graham in the Senate acknowledging the growing pileup of allegations against Hegseth.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, another key Trump ally, said, “Some new things that have come to light in the last 12 to 14 hours are things he needs to address.” Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said “of course” the allegations are “concerning.” Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma said he believed it was “reasonable” and “fair” to ask about allegations that Hegseth was intoxicated at work events.
“The president … should have the ability to make decisions on who they want as their advisers. But the Senate has a constitutional role as well,” Lankford said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy said the allegations “have to be addressed,” and emphasized the importance of a thorough vetting process for Trump’s Cabinet picks. The Louisiana Republican added, “many people go through a rough period in their life.”
Many in the Senate GOP said their main line of questioning for Hegseth will be more about his plans to reform the Pentagon, while giving him the “benefit of the doubt” about allegations against him, as Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota put it.
“He’s denied any wrongdoing. My main interest is, what kind of cultural shift are we going to see in the Pentagon?” Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri said, adding that no charges were ever filed against Hegseth.
“President Trump … has got a right to pick who he wants to lead the Department of Defense and I think that Pete Hegseth right now is in a pretty strong position,” he added.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Jake Tapper, Kaitlan Collins, Kristen Holmes, Sara Murray, Danya Gainor, Morgan Rimmer, Ali Main, Ted Barrett and Haley Talbot contributed.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
