Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a decorated combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense is dangerously unqualified and has less management experience than someone running an Applebee’s restaurant.
“The manager of the average Applebee’s has probably managed more people than Pete Hegseth,” Duckworth said during a press call Friday, referring to Trump’s nominee to head the Pentagon.
Duckworth’s sharp criticism comes a few days before Hegseth is scheduled to testify at his Tuesday Senate confirmation hearing.
“Pete Hegseth’s nomination to serve as secretary of Defense is dangerous. Being secretary of Defense is a very serious job and putting someone as dangerously unqualified as Mr. Hegseth into that role is something that should scare all of us,” she told reporters, previewing the challenges Hegseth will face before the Armed Services panel next week.
The Democratic senator argued that Trump has tapped a “television personality” without sufficient experience to lead almost 3 million troops and civilian employees.
“I want to know what’s the largest budget he’s ever run. You’re talking about the Pentagon that has a budget of over $830 billion,” Duckworth said.
She said the largest organization that Hegseth appears to have led is an infantry platoon, “which at most is 40 guys.”
She also called him the “most unqualified nominee ever picked for this role.”
Duckworth held the press call to lay out her concerns about Trump’s nominee, insisting that her objections to Hegseth aren’t motivated by politics but by what his confirmation would mean for national security.
She complained that Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, will likely be the only Senate Democrat who will meet with Hegseth before his hearing.
“I have many questions for him, more questions than I can fit into the mere seven minutes each senator will be given during the hearing,” she said.
Duckworth also noted that rank-and-file Democrats on the Armed Services panel may not have a chance to fully review the FBI background check on the nominee, an investigation Democrats believe will be critical to assess a sexual assault allegation from 2017 and alleged mismanagement of Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group.
Hegseth has vigorously denied the assault allegation and dismissed claims of unprofessional conduct and mismanagement at CVA as smears.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to look at the FBI investigation before the hearing,” Duckworth said.
“I know that I and the other Senate Dems have requested access” to the FBI background report, she said.
“Before we broke for the holidays, the Republicans had indicated that we would be able to see them, but now it looks like they’re looking to just the ranking member and the chairman and the rest of us will not be able to see them,” she said of the results of the FBI’s investigation.
