I have been watching the Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing on the nomination of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. So far, and I am starting to write this just after noon on Tuesday, I am surprised about two things:

First, I am surprised at the purposely partisan testimony being given by Hegseth. Rather than trying to say things that have a chance to help win over some of the Democrats, he has chosen to say things that deepen the political divide.

Secondly, I am surprised at the weakness of so many of the questions of the Democrats. Senator Warren is now questioning Hegseth. She is the fourth Democratic female Senator to question Mr. Hegseth, and she is the fourth Democratic Senator to question him virtually only about his views on women in combat. I find this excessive when there are so many other topics to get on the record.

[Having said that, I did hear Warren ask him about the “revolving door”, the movement from a government job to the industry regulated during the time of government service. Would you, asked Warren, agree to keep from taking a job in the defense industry for ten years after your tour as Secretary of the Defense ends? He said that he would ask President Trump what the policy was and would abide by it. She responded by telling him (something I know nothing about) that generals are not allowed to move from the military to the defense industry. His answer to his? “I am not a general.” The audience (not me) laughed.]

At the start of the hearing, Ranking Member Jack Reed made it clear that the Democrats had coordinated their questioning (as the Republicans had coordinated theirs). Does this mean that the Democrats decided that at least four of their members should ask repetitive questions on the nominee’s views on women in combat?

And I didn’t think the Democrats got very far on their critiques of Hegseth’s leadership of two veteran related non-profits that he ran. They didn’t focus on their accomplishments,  but on their spending more than they brought in. Hegseth said that his leadership was financially responsible, that they were mission oriented, and that their mission succeeded. I can understand that. A non-profit’s mission can be more important than its financial ability to keep itself going. You can spend all of your assets to reach your goal, and then collapse the organization feeling satisfied. There may have been problems with the organizations, but the questions did not reach them.

And if the Democrats coordinated their questions (which I assume they did), does that mean that coordinated topics or that they coordinated specific questions? If they only coordinated topics, did Tim Kaine draw the short straw, being told that his topic was to deal with Hegseth’s reported sex and alcohol problems? If so, Kaine certainly did not develop any successful  questions. Hegseth had a child, when married to a different woman, seven years ago, and Kaine berated him for being unfaithful and violating his marriage vows. That child, who does bear the last name of Hegseth, really didn’t need to be brought into this discussion. I thought quite unthinking. (On the other hand, watching a bit of MSNBC after the hearing was adjourned,  I saw that their pundits thought Kaine’s questioning was some of the best of the morning. Go figure.)

On the other hand, I was surprised (I guess I didn’t pay attention to this in the news) that, in the run up to this hearing, Hegseth met with all of the Republicans on this committee, but refused to meet with any of the Democrats. On this basis alone, I do not think that any Democrat should be voting for him.

I also understand that the FBI investigative report was not given to the committee members. Another reason to withhold your vote.

Other things about the hearing?

(1) The Republicans asked a lot of questions about ship building for the Navy, and Hegseth said that it was a priority both for him and for President to be again Trump, but no one followed up with questions about cost. In fact, the defense budget was never discussed. No

(2) The Republicans talked a lot about DEI and “woke” policies, with Missouri Senator Schmitt saying that at the Air Force Academy, no one was allowed to call their parents “Mom and Dad”. What was that about? Does anyone know? And while neither DEI nor “woke” were really defined, DEI seemed to be a more politically correct way to described any forms of affirmative action, and woke seemed to have to do largely with paying for gender identification surgery for persons in uniform. [After Hegseth said that there were only two genders, the Senator from Montana said: “I agree with that, and I know, because I’m a Sheehy”. Tee hee, She he. Get it?]

(3) The folks on MSNBC thought that little was learned at the hearing (I agree with that) and that Hegseth did a very good job. I don’t think he did a very good job. He avoided answering questions, and he gave five minute answers to questions that should have been answered in one short sentence.

(4) I would have asked about Elon Musk and Space X. But the hearing was adjourned before I had a chance.

(5) And Jesus, there sure was a lot of Jesus.

Finally, from the start of the hearings, it was as partisan as can be. Particularly on the part of Hegseth, who threw Trump and America First into every answer he could, and on the part of the Republicans, who unsurprisingly badmouthed the Biden administration at every opportunity, even though in theory the Biden administration had nothing to do with this hearing. That, of course, is expected, but is a bad sign.

Hegseth will be confirmed. Trump will be his own Secretary of Defense.