Senate Democrats will "do what they always do" while pushing back against the confirmation of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said on Newsmax Tuesday.
"They're going to show off," the Kentucky Republican and author of the new book "All the President's Money," told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "They're going to try to appease their liberal base. They're going to try to do whatever they can to get on MSNBC or CNN. But at the end of the day, I think the Republicans are going to stick together."
Hegseth, he added, will do a "good job."
"He's a tough guy," said Comer. "He's well respected by his peers. The military people need respect. They need someone that can lead them and gain their respect, and Pete already has done that."
He added that he is "confident" that Hegseth, whose confirmation hearings began Tuesday morning, will be confirmed as well as all of Trump's nominees.
That includes Kash Patel, who has been nominated as FBI director to replace outgoing Director Christopher Wray, who Trump had nominated during his first term of office.
"Christopher Wray is a disgrace," said Comer. "I had one phone call conversation with him, and it was probably a five- to 10-minute conversation. He probably lied three times to me on the phone at least, and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt."
He added that he doesn't think most Republicans believe "a thing" that Wray or the FBI says.
"We're going to have to have Kash Patel go in just like Pete Hegseth, and they're going to have to clean house," said Comer. "That doesn't just mean firing the political appointees."
It will be necessary for Trump's appointees to "terminate the top two layers of the bureaucracy," he added.
"Those that have tenure, those that have merit in civil service, in the federal government — they think they're protected, and according to the law they may be protected," said Comer. "But we're going to have to set an example, and I think Kash and Pete will do that. It's going to have to be done to restore confidence in our whole judiciary and our whole intelligence community."
Patel, Comer said, has a "superior knowledge," and the House Oversight Committee "is going to work hand in hand" with him.
"We want to work with him because when it gets to what we've been looking into in our investigations, we haven't gotten any information we've requested from the FBI," said Comer. "We've only received obstruction from the FBI, and we need accountability, and we need to hold people accountable in the FBI that were a part of the cover-ups."
Comer also on Tuesday discussed comments made by David Weiss, the prosecutor who had investigated Hunter Biden.
Weiss argues that the criminal charges that were filed against President Joe Biden's son were the culmination of an intense investigation and were not politically motivated.
Comer told Newsmax that it was an "admission of guilt" when the president issued a blanket pardon for his son, not only on the charges that Weiss' investigation brought.
"The reason he made that pardon so broad is because Hunter Biden committed so many financial crimes," said Comer. "Joe Biden's legacy is going to be that of having a family that was involved in influence peddling, where he was at the center of that influence peddling."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.