Trump’s pick for defense secretary can’t clear lowest bar for confirmation

President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth to serve as secretary of defense is more than a bad personnel choice — it’s an alarming reflection of the state of the Republican Party and its indifference to qualifications, ethics and allegations of serious misconduct.

Hegseth is facing numerous accusations of rampant and very public alcoholism, financial mismanagement of veteran’s organizations and even sexual assault. While those accusations are damning enough, Hegseth also lacks the strategic, management and operational expertise needed for the role. He should not be allowed near the Pentagon’s top job, which is one of the most demanding management and strategic jobs in world.

Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor and veteran of the National Guard, has never held senior military leadership roles, nor has he managed complex military operations or developed national security strategy. The Defense Department, with its nearly 3 million employees and $800 billion annual budget, demands a leader with proven competence in managing vast resources and navigating international crises. Hegseth, by contrast, brings a résumé heavy on television punditry and light on relevant experience. It’s no surprise that even some Republican senators are expressing doubts about his fitness for the role.

Yet, lack of experience and expertise are only part of the problem. Hegseth’s past behavior, which allegedly includes sexual assault, financial impropriety and excessive drinking, are disqualifying. These claims are not vague rumors but documented issues corroborated by whistleblowers and supported by settlements, including a 2017 financial agreement tied to a sexual assault allegation.

As one nervous witness after another comes forward about Hegseth’s character, it sounds like Trump is setting the nation up for “National Lampoon: The Pentagon Years,” with a secretary of defense who is zigzagging down the halls wearing his underwear on his head, pantsing generals and bellowing “kegger!” All before sending American troops against peaceful protesters or administration critics, of course.

Compounding the matter is Hegseth’s personal history of mistreating women, so pervasive that his own mother admonished him in a 2018 email, writing that she was “broken” by her son’s lack of character but that “as a woman and your mother I feel I must speak out.”

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