Defense Secretary Nominee Pete Hegseth’s Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for the second week of January, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee told CNN.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the incoming-chairman of the committee, told CNN’s Manu Raju that the hearing, where members of the committee will grill Hegseth in a public hearing on various issues, will take place on January 14.
The scheduling of the date is significant, after Democrats and several establishment Republicans tried to tank his nomination earlier this month and casting doubt over whether he would make it that far.
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With Hegseth mounting a significant campaign to win support from other Republican senators and the public, those Republican senators have mostly come around, and are expected to confirm him.
The Senate Armed Services Committee will be responsible for voting on Hegseth first, and advancing his nomination to the full Senate. That is expected to happen, particularly after Hegseth met with and had positive meetings Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), one of the alleged hold outs.
Following a significant smear campaign against Hegseth, which consisted of several back-to-back anonymously-sourced hit pieces, former co-workers, friends, and veterans came out in droves in support of him.
Hegseth is a combat veteran with multiple deployments under his belt, and has served for more than 20 years in the Army National Guard.
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He then worked as CEO of several veterans advocacy groups, before becoming a full-time host at Fox News.
Throughout his time at Fox News, he has continued to raise awareness for veterans issues, and recently published a book, The War on Warriors, on the harmful effect of wokeness in the military.
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