Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth greets senators Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, before his confirmation hearing in Washington.  (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth defended himself against accusations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse and mismanagement on Tuesday and vowed to “restore the warrior ethos” to the Pentagon as he tried to convince senators of his fitness to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary.

Hegseth, a 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News host, faced a divided Senate Armed Services Committee, with Republicans praising him as a fresh face that will shake up Pentagon bureaucracy and Democrats denouncing him as woefully unqualified to lead an agency with a nearly $900 billion budget and 3 million employees.

“Admittedly, this nomination is unconventional, the nominee is unconventional,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the chairman of the panel. “That may be what makes Mr. Hegseth an excellent choice.”

Casting himself as a “change agent,” Hegseth said it was time to give someone from an atypical background, “with dust on his boots,” a chance at the top Pentagon job. He dismissed the accusations against him as a “coordinated smear campaign” by the media.

“I’m not a perfect person but redemption is real,” he said. “God forged me in ways that I know I’m prepared for.”

Hegseth has been under scrutiny for reaching a financial settlement with a woman who had accused him of sexual assault in 2017 and claims he mismanaged two veterans organizations that he led, and drank to excess at Fox News and other jobs.

On Tuesday, Hegseth told senators “every dollar” raised by the nonprofit veterans groups was used for its intended purpose, asserted he was “falsely accused” by the woman and slammed reports of his drinking as “anonymous” and “false.”

He entered the packed hearing room in the Senate’s Dirksen Office Building to applause and chants of “USA” from his supporters but was interrupted several times by protesters who called him a misogynist and a Christian Zionist.

Wicker defended Hegseth, saying he will bring energy and new ideas to the Defense Department and reject distractions such as diversity, equality and inclusivity initiatives in favor of a focus on winning wars.

“I’m confident that Mr. Hegseth, supported by a team of experienced top officials, will get the job done,” he said.

But Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the committee, said he could not vote for Hegseth despite a long record of voting in favor of all previous nominees for defense secretary, including during Trump’s first term.

“Unfortunately, you lack the character and composure to hold the position,” he said.

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, center, stands between Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., left, and Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Pa., right, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, before a Senate confirmation hearing in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Reed expressed particular concern that Hegseth’s vocal conservative views, which he espoused in several books, are antithetical to the nonpartisan nature of the Defense Department. He and other Democrats also criticized Hegseth for failing to meet with them before his confirmation hearing, as is tradition.

Democratic women on the committee took sharp aim at Hegseth for his previous remarks on women, who he has said should not serve in certain combat roles and are less effective in those roles than men.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., angrily denounced his comments as “brutal” and “mean” and said they denigrated the hundreds of women serving in infantry. She held up a copy of the physical requirements needed to join the infantry and said they are gender neutral.

“You will have to change how you see women to do this job well, and I don’t know if you are capable of that,” she said.

Hegseth denied he ever disparaged women and said his concern was with what he believes are slipping standards and gender quotas. He said he would conduct a review of the requirements for combat positions if confirmed.

“In ways direct and indirect, overt and subtle, standards have been changed inside infantry training units, [Army] Ranger school, infantry battalions to ensure that commanders meet quotas to have a certain number of female officers or female enlisted,” he said.

Gillibrand noted commanders do not have to meet quotas for women in infantry.

“That does not exist,” she said.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a combat veteran who initially refused to commit to supporting Hegseth, secured a pledge from him on Tuesday that women will retain access to ground combat roles “given the standards remain high.”

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth testifies Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, during his Senate confirmation hearing in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

He also promised to appoint a senior-level official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., grilled Hegseth on the 2017 sexual assault accusation and his personal life, which includes three marriages and admissions of infidelity. Kaine said Hegseth was married at the time of the alleged assault and had recently fathered a child with an affair partner.

Hegseth replied he was “completely cleared” in the incident and declined to say whether sexual assault or being drunk at work would disqualify a candidate for the defense secretary post. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., quickly came to his defense and called Democratic senators hypocrites.

“How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night?” Mullin asked. “How many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No, but it’s for show.”

Republicans largely found Hegseth to be a refreshing break from the norm.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., thanked him for being “unapologetic” in repeatedly proclaiming his faith. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said he appreciated Hegseth’s commitment to ending the “woke” policies of President Joe Biden’s administration.

Hegseth previously had a 13-year, part-time career in the Army National Guard, commissioning as an infantry officer after graduating from Princeton University in 2003. His first deployment was to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he led a platoon of soldiers providing security.

In 2005, Hegseth volunteered for a deployment to Iraq with the 187th Infantry Regiment of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division. He served as an infantry platoon leader and a civil affairs officer, earning a Bronze Star for meritorious service.

A third and final deployment took Hegseth to Afghanistan in 2011, where he trained Afghans in counterinsurgency tactics at a school in Kabul. He left the military at the rank of major in 2021 after being turned away from an assignment to protect President Joe Biden’s inauguration due to a religious tattoo that raised extremism concerns.

Hegseth said the episode soured him on the military and strengthened his resolve to push divisive policies out of the Pentagon. He rebuked efforts to root out extremism and said attempts to make the armed forces more inclusive have only made the ranks more divided.

“Things like focusing on extremism have created a climate inside our ranks that feel political when it hasn’t ever been political,” he said. “Those are the types of things that are going to change.”

He also said he would apologize to and reinstate service members who were kicked out of the military for refusing to get the “experimental” coronavirus vaccine and expressed his opposition to continuing a policy that subsidizes travel costs for troops seeking abortions and other reproductive health care.

When asked how service members would react to his proposed actions, Hegseth said: “I know the troops will rejoice. They will love it. They will love it.”