Senate Democrats struggle to meet with Hegseth ahead of confirmation hearing

WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is set to face lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday in what is likely to be his only confirmation hearing.

The Minnesota native has met with all the Republicans on the committee, and most GOP members of the Senate, some of whom have expressed confidence he’ll be confirmed.

But some Democrats on the panel said they’ve been unable to meet with Hegseth, even as their questions over whether he’s fit to lead the Defense Department have grown amid past allegations he mismanaged a veterans group he once led, drank excessively and sexually assaulted a woman.

“He’s refusing to meet with me, which is not a good sign,” Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, said Wednesday.

Three Democrats on the committee recounted similar experiences. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Hegseth agreed to meet with him, but not until a day after the hearing, and Sen. Mark Kelly, a moderate from Arizona, said Wednesday he’s been unsuccessful in landing a meeting with the nominee.

“We’ve been seeking to work out a time, but he’s made himself completely unavailable,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Wednesday.

Blumenthal sent a letter to Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., this week asking that lawmakers get more details on Hegseth’s management of the veterans group and be able to review his FBI background report.

Asked Thursday if he’s seen the FBI report, Wicker would not say.

With less than a week before the hearing, King, Blumenthal and other committee members, both Democrats and Republicans, said they had yet to see the report.

King said that’s unusual at this stage of the confirmation process.

“We usually receive all this well before the hearing is scheduled and nominees, almost universally, meet with the senators from the committee that they’re going to be appearing before,” King said.

An aide familiar with the Senate Armed Services confirmation process said the committee chair and ranking member typically are briefed on the FBI report within a week of a confirmation hearing. The aide said they decide whether to share its findings with members of their parties.

But the aide said it is outside the norm for nominees to not meet with members of the opposite party before their hearing.

Asked why Hegseth has declined to meet with committee Democrats, an aide for the nominee disputed their claims as “partisan blustering.” The aide said Hegseth had reached out before the holidays to all Senate Democrats — on and off the committee.

“We even reached out to several [committee] Democrats well before Thanksgiving, with multiple follow-ups, and I would note that those folks declined to meet with Mr. Hegseth throughout December,” the aide said,.

The aide said Pennsylvania’s Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to agree to meet with the nominee before the holidays.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., a member of the Armed Services Committee who supports Hegseth, said he thinks the nominee may believe he has the votes to be confirmed if he isn’t meeting with Democrats.

Cramer said he thinks the committee will see the contents of the FBI report before the hearing.

“If Pete has chosen not to meet with Democrats, that means he must know he’s got enough Republican votes,” he said.

One Democrat on the committee who did meet with Hegseth is former panel chair Jack Reed of Rhode Island, now the ranking member. But he said his questions were not answered in their meeting Wednesday.

“Today’s meeting did not relieve my concerns about Mr. Hegseth’s lack of qualifications and raised more questions than answers,” Reed said Wednesday in a statement.

“As with any nominee for this critical position, Mr. Hegseth must undergo the same high-level of scrutiny as prior secretary of defense nominees.”

When asked whether the committee will be able to see the FBI report before Tuesday’s hearing, Reed nodded before entering the Senate chamber for votes.

“I’m sure we’ll be getting materials in advance of the hearing,” fellow committee member Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., who supports Hegseth’s nomination, said of the FBI report on Wednesday.

“I think he’s a reformer. He’s a good fit for the position. I think that the Pentagon’s been saddled with ridiculous DEI politics and a lot of distractions; we need to get back to work.”