The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 14 to 13 along party lines on Monday to advance President Donald Trump's defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, The Hill reported.
Hegseth now awaits a vote from the Senate floor to advance confirmation.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., a member of the panel, called the vote "disappointing."
"It's extremely disappointing, for a couple of reasons. One, we think there's some additional information that's likely to come out in the next few days that could be very troubling. I think people have a right to know what that is," he stated. "And, two, I believe all of my [Democratic] colleagues requested meetings with Mr. Hegseth. Certainly, my schedule was wide open. We said, 'Give us a time. We're willing to meet, whenever it works for you.' And we never got a response."
The Hill reported that Hegseth met with the Democrat ranking member of the committee, Sen. Jack Reed, R.I., but with no others from the party.
Sen. Tim Kaine, Va., another Democrat member of the panel, argued that Republicans should not have waived the customary seven-day grace period from a nominee's hearing — which is meant to allow adequate time for review and deliberation — since Hegseth met with only one Democrat on the committee.
"He did not do the courtesy to meet with the minority members but the majority voted to waive it anyway," Kaine said. "This isn't over until we get to the floor. I'm energized."
Given the Senate Democrats' staunch opposition to Hegseth, it is expected that they will use procedural tactics to slow his confirmation.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mass., another Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, gave a statement on Monday criticizing Hegseth's wife for holding stocks of two Department of Defense contractors.
"Given your household's ownership of stock in several defense contractors and your unwillingness at your confirmation hearing to commit to post-employment restrictions, I am concerned that you will enter this role with serious conflicts of interest," Warren stated in a letter to Hegseth.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told NBC's "Today" all of Trump's Cabinet picks "have a path to" confirmation.
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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