WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill rallied Thursday around Trump’s Pentagon pick, Pete Hegseth, even as new details emerged about allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017 .
The Republican embrace of Hegseth came as another controversial Trump candidate, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration to become attorney general. Gaetz said it was clear he had become a “distraction” amid pressure on the House to release an ethics report into allegations of his own sexual misconduct. An attorney for two women has said his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them to do so. had sex multiple times starting in 2017, when Gaetz was a Florida congressman.
New questions about the past of the two nominees and their treatment of women arose among Republicans under pressure from Trump and his allies to quickly confirm his Cabinet. At the same time, his transition to date has encountered the vetting and background checks traditionally required.
While few Republican senators have publicly criticized Trump’s nominees, it became clear after Gaetz’s withdrawal that many harbored private concerns about him. Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who served in the House of Representatives with Gaetz, said it was a “positive move.” Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker said it was a “positive development.” Senator Susan Collins of Maine said Gaetz “put the country first and I am pleased with his decision.”
But after meeting with Hegseth, Republicans rallied around him. “I think he’ll be in pretty good shape,” said Wicker, who is expected to chair the Senate Armed Services Committee in the next Congress.
Republican senators’ cautious words and their initial reluctance to publicly question Trump’s choices illustrated not only their fear of retaliation from the new president, but also some of their hope that the confirmation process can proceed normally, with good vetting and background checks that are more likely to disqualify potentially problematic nominees. Gaetz withdrew Wednesday after meeting with senators.
Senator Thom Tillis said Gaetz was “in a pressure cooker” when he decided to withdraw, but suggested this would have little impact on Trump’s other nominees. “Transactions – one at a time,” he said.
As the Hegseth nomination moves forward, Republicans also appear to be betting that they won’t face much pushback if they publicly put aside the sexual misconduct allegations — especially after Trump won the election after being found liable for sexual assault last year.
Hegseth held a series of private meetings Thursday with incoming Vice President J.D. Vance in an effort to shore up support. He told reporters: “The case has been fully investigated and I have been fully exonerated, and I am going to leave it at that.”
A 22-page police report made public late Wednesday provided the first detailed account of the allegations against him. A woman told police she was sexually assaulted by Hegseth in 2017 after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave. The report cited police interviews with the alleged victim, a nurse who treated her, a hotel employee, another woman at the event and Hegseth.
Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Palatore, said the incident was “fully investigated and police determined the allegations were false.” Hegseth paid the woman in 2023 as part of a confidential settlement to avert the threat of what he described as a baseless lawsuit, Palatore said.
Wicker downplayed the allegations against Hegseth, a former Fox News host, saying that “since no charges have been filed by authorities, we only have press reports.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said after meeting with Hegseth that he “shared with him that I am saddened by the attacks coming his way.”
Hagerty dismissed the allegations as “a he-said-she thing” and called it “a shame” that they were brought forward at all.
The senator said attention should instead be focused on the Defense Department, which Hegseth would lead. It is one of the most complex parts of the federal government with more than 3 million employees, including military and civilian employees. Sexual assault is a persistent problem in the military, although Pentagon officials are cautiously optimistic that they are seeing a decline in the number of reported sexual assaults among active-duty service members and the military academies.
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, who will be the second Republican in the Senate next year, said after meeting Hegseth that the nominee is a strong candidate who “promised that the Pentagon will focus on strength and hard power – not on the current power.” government has shaken up the political agenda.”
Senate Republicans are under pressure to hold hearings once they take office in January and confirm nominees as soon as Trump is inaugurated, despite questions about whether Trump’s picks will be properly vetted or whether some, like Hegseth, will be enough have experience for the job.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jack Reed, who will be the top Democrat on the panel next year, said the reports on Hegseth “underscored the need for a thorough investigation by the FBI into the backgrounds of all nominees.”
A simple majority is needed to approve Cabinet nominations, meaning that if Democrats all opposed a nominee, four Republican senators would also have to defect for a Trump pick to be defeated. Trump has made it clear that he is willing to put maximum pressure on Senate Republicans to give him the nominees he wants — even suggesting at one point that they simply allow him to appoint his nominees without votes in the Senate.
But for now, senators are insisting they are not giving up their constitutional power to have a say.
“The president has the right to make whatever nominations he sees fit, but the Senate also has a responsibility for advice and consent,” said Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. In Gaetz’s case, he said, “I think advice was given rather than permission.”
