Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee “couldn’t have gone better,” new Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview.
Hegseth ably navigated attempts to provoke an emotional response as Democrats failed to land a blow on President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense.
“The Democrats were looking for a gotcha moment. They didn’t get it,” Banks told Breitbart News after the hearing. “Pete knocked it out of the park. He conducted himself in a way that I think everyone in the room can agree that he’s qualified for the job, and time is of the essence to get him over to the Pentagon to get to work.”
Democrats, including ranking member Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), pleaded for different rules for Hegseth’s confirmation hearing than Biden’s Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin had for his. In addition, some Democrats previously wrongly accused Hegseth of refusing to meet with them.
“I’ve seen the back and forth between Pete’s scheduler and all of the schedulers of the Democrats, and it’s an absolute lie that he didn’t try to meet with them,” Banks told Breitbart News. “His scheduler reached out to all of their offices, and they delayed, and they made it next to impossible for him to meet with with their bosses. So for the Democrats to get up and act like he didn’t want to meet with them is just crazy.”
Despite Democrats insisting they needed more time for questioning, Democrats produced no new information during the hearing.
“They kept hinting at, or threatening, that they would have some bombshell, and it was all the same bullshit anonymous accusations that we’ve heard before,” he said. “So there was nothing new, and that’s why Pete, he did a great job. He’s going to be a great secretary.”
Banks, who as a House member formed the Anti-Woke Caucus, has been a leader in speaking out against the Pentagon’s prioritization of woke social policies over military readiness. He said Hegseth will bring “immediate” results to reorienting the department towards its core mission.
“Donald Trump picked Pete Hegseth for this very reason – to stop wokeism in the military, to block these ridiculous, woke briefings and trainings that take the priority away from the warfighting, and [to] keep the military focused on what it’s supposed to do,” he said. “The Senate needs to confirm it and send him over there, because it’s an immediate night and day change from what we have there today.”
Banks believes Hegseth will have “strong” support on the Senate floor.
“Something to keep in mind that I think is important is Pete has only gained support,” he said, predicting the momentum Hegseth gained from the hearing will propel him to confirmation.
The committee is expected to vote on Hegseth’s nomination Monday, hours after Trump’s inauguration.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.
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