President-elect Donald Trump is considering selecting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as Secretary of Defense, replacing the controversial Fox News host Piet Hegseththree sources familiar with the transition told CBS News Tuesday evening.
This comes after Trump and DeSantis attended a memorial for fallen law enforcement officers in Florida on Tuesday.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report this story.
A spokesperson for DeSantis had no comment when reached by CBS News.
This comes as Hegseth, who met with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill this week to try to build support ahead of his confirmation hearings, has faced a series of negative stories about allegations of sexual misconduct. financial mismanagement at veterans’ charitiesrepeated drunkenness and infidelity.
“Some of these articles are very disturbing. He clearly has an opportunity to defend himself here, but some of these things are going to be difficult,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters on Tuesday. “Time will tell.”
Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, who noted that he has also read the reporting and is aware of the allegations, said Hegseth will have to address them.
“I want to know if they are true and I want to hear his side of the story and he will have to address them,” he said Tuesday, adding that he was unsure whether Hegseth’s appointment would face headwinds.
On Monday, the New Yorker reported that before becoming a full-time host of Fox News, Hegseth was forced to resign from two nonprofits — Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America — amid complaints about his alleged conduct, including repeatedly drunk on the job, leading a hostile work environment and mismanaging the charities’ funds. CBS News reported that Jessie Jane Duff, a Navy veteran who was one of Trump’s 2024 campaign directors, was among those who pushed for his expulsion from Concerned Veterans for America in 2016.
A lawyer for Hegseth has denied the allegations.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Ed O’Keefe
