Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told Newsmax on Wednesday that former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Department of Defense, could "sail through" the Senate Armed Services Committee following his confirmation hearing.
Cramer said on "Wake Up America" that panel member Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, announcing her support for Hegseth shortly after the end of his confirmation hearing on Tuesday means he will "be confirmed out of the committee, which is a very important step."
He added that Ernst "is a warfighter herself. She was a National Guardsman. She was a commander deployed in the Army. And of course, she's been a fierce fighter for women's rights and against sexual abuse in the military. Her credentials are impeccable. She's earned them the hard way. And so her opinion matters more than most."
Cramer went on to say that the hearing and Ernst's support "sets Pete up to get every Republican vote for sure … in the Armed Services Committee and probably sail through" the panel.
He added that his hope is that the Senate can confirm Hegseth "quickly" and "that the Democrats don't hold this up, that they don't use the tricks of the trade, if you will, to deny the United States of America their Secretary of Defense at a time when the world is on fire. And we basically had a Secretary of Defense AWOL for the last four years."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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