Surely There’s a Better DOD Nominee Out There

By Michael Woyton

You know what I shouldn’t have to worry about? Or any of us for that matter?

Whether the person in charge of the largest employer in the country which has a yearly budget of more than $840 billion and almost 3 million employees — including 1.3 million active-duty troops — had too many cocktails at dinner last night or even this morning.

Or whether that person will responsibly spend the more than $840 million in the budget for which he is responsible rather than be accused of financial mismanagement.

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Or whether that person will not harass female employees, whom he has said should not be in combat roles, or is known to be a serial adulterer.

Yes, I’m talking about Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News weekend talk show co-host, who was nominated by adjudicated convicted felon and adjudicated rapist Donald Trump to be the next secretary of defense and is scheduled for a confirmation hearing Tuesday.

Worrying about someone in charge of the massive military complex headquartered at the Pentagon is WAY above my pay grade.

I’ll admit I haven’t had to worry one little bit about current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, who was sworn in two days after Joe Biden became president in 2021.

Austin retired as a four-star Army general after serving 41 years in uniform. His career includes commands at the corps, division, battalion and brigade levels, according to his DoD bio. He has also served on the boards of Raytheon Technologies, Nucor and Tenet Healthcare.

Tammy Duckworth on Hegseth: "from what I can tell, the manager of your local Applebee’s has more experience managing a bigger budget and more personnel than Pete Hegseth."

— emptywheel (@emptywheel.bsky.social) 2025-01-13T13:58:18.370Z

Did I say that Hegseth was on Fox News as a weekend co-host?

A point was made in a Washington Post article that if Hegseth was still wearing a uniform some of his past actions could lead to his being disciplined, such as having extramarital affairs, drinking on the job and telling his troops they can ignore commands about when to shoot potential enemies.

The question raised by the article is whether he could enforce discipline in the ranks if he were the defense secretary.

Sure, Hegseth has promised not to drink if he gets the DoD gig, and I suppose that is meant to be a comfort, but come on.

Why would anyone in a position to advise and consent want to take a chance on Hegseth? How is he the best of the best for this president-elect?

And should it be concerning that, according to NBC News, that leaders of two military organizations — Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America — from which Hegseth was forced to resign because of mismanagement said they have not been contacted by the FBI to participate in a background check for the defense nominee?

Yes, it should be concerning.

Lead art: Screen grab from CBS Morning News.