Iowa Senator Ernst Speaks Out on Hegseth Nomination

Whenever a new president is preparing to take the reins, there is always some scrambling to get key roles filled in the new administration. Cabinet posts are primary among these key roles, and boy if Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) isn't a big one. This is, after all, the person who will be shaping the policy of the Department of Defense for the next few years — and we see what a disaster the incumbent SECDEF has been.

President-elect Trump (nope, still not tired of typing that) has nominated former Fox News host — and Army combat zone veteran — Pete Hegseth as SECDEF, and I have to say I like the idea of someone who has seen the elephant in that role for once. But the SECDEF has to be approved by the Senate; the GOP's hold on the Senate is still narrow, and there will be Republican dissenters.

One who seems to be on the fence is Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA). In an exclusive interview with RealClearPolitics on Thursday, she clarified just where she stands on the nomination.

Sen. Joni Ernst has not made up her mind about Pete Hegseth’s nomination to be secretary of defense, but despite the suggestion of some of her colleagues, the Iowa Republican told RealClearPolitics during a Thursday interview that she is not pursuing that role for herself.
“I am not seeking to be secretary of defense,” Ernst said after some on the left suggested she would make a better candidate than Hegseth and after critics on the right accused her of trying to sink his nomination for personal gain. A combat veteran herself, she explained that while “I absolutely have interest in the military,” her focus is on continuing her work in the Armed Services committee, not joining President-elect Trump’s cabinet.

Senator Ernst went on to describe the broad strokes of her meeting with Pete Hegseth:

Ernst, a senior member of the committee with jurisdiction over the nomination, met with Hegseth Wednesday as allegations about professional and sexual misconduct continue to dim his hopes of confirmation.
“I’ve known Pete for a very long time,” Ernst said of Hegseth, a former Fox News host and decorated veteran, adding, “I really appreciated the time that he took to sit down with me and walk through a number of issues.” The senator described the conversation as “thorough” and the nominee as “very forthcoming.” A sexual assault survivor, she confirmed that the two discussed the misconduct allegations during their 45-minute sit-down.

It's hard to read any intent from that, although the hint that the conversation was "thorough" and that Pete Hegseth was "very forthcoming" implies that the conversation went well.

Mike Davis, formerly the Chief Counsel for Nominations for the Senate Judiciary Committee, took to X to support the nominee and predicts that Senator Ernst will, in the end, vote to confirm Pete Hegseth.

Joni Ernst is my home-state senator.

She will do her job and fully vet all nominees.

And I predict she will vote to confirm Pete Hegseth.

Like she did with Justice Kavanaugh.

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Exclusive: Joni Ernst “I Don’t Have a Campaign Against Pete” Hegsethhttps://t.co/44QeQh5I3N
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) December 6, 2024

The nomination has been hitting some stumbling blocks in recent days.

Scott Jennings Points Out Obvious Comparisons Between Hegseth and Kavanaugh to CNN Panel in Denial

Again, it's time we had a SECDEF that has seen the elephant. It's been a while since we had someone determining military policy who has smelled the smoke, someone who has carried a rifle in a combat zone, someone who has dropped mortar rounds down the tube. Pete Hegseth has done those things. He seems the right candidate to turn the Department of Defense and the United States armed forces back around, to get rid of the "jobs program for the neurotic" and DEI horse squeeze, and turn our armed forces back to their core mission: to close with and destroy the enemy by fire, maneuver, and shock effect.

It remains to be seen how Senator Ernst will vote on this nomination. If she truly cares about our armed forces, she will vote to confirm. We need a warfighter for SECDEF.