©  Greg Nash

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, vowed Wednesday to continue fighting for confirmation as allegations mount and rumors swirl that he may bow out or be replaced.

Trump is reportedly mulling several alternatives, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), if Hegseth’s confirmation falters or becomes untenable.

Hegseth insisted in meetings with GOP lawmakers Wednesday that he has no intention of stepping aside. However, he canceled his Thursday meetings with senators and will fly to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump, according to The Washington Post.

Hegseth’s nomination has been railroaded by media reports detailing allegations of heavy drinking and sexual impropriety.

Hegseth and his family are mounting a firm defense, with the 44-year-old combat veteran and Fox News host emphatically denying the allegations and promising to continue his quest to lead the Department of Defense.

“I spoke to the President elect this morning,” Hegseth told reporters. “He said keep going, keep fighting, I’m behind you all the way… why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter. I’m here for the warfighters. This is personal and passionate for me.”

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Hegseth slammed what he described as a “manufactured media takedown.”

Hegseth sat for interviews with Fox News on Wednesday to make his case, as did his mother, Penelope Hegseth, who was pulled into the drama when The New York Times obtained an email in which she chastised her son for how he treated his then-wife.

“He’s not that man he was seven years ago, and I’m not that mother,” she said on “Fox & Friends”. “They were going through a very difficult divorce … There’s emotions; I wrote that in haste with deep emotions, as a parent.”

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, so Hegseth can only afford to lose three GOP senators, if all Democrats vote against him.

Several Republicans have expressed alarm over the allegations against him, with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) saying he has some explaining to do, including at a public hearing, which could expose a messy private life.

“I think some of these articles are very disturbing,” Graham told CBS News. “He obviously has a chance to defend himself here, but some of this stuff is going to be difficult.

The discourse on Capitol Hill is turning personal, with Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-S.D.) saying he wants Hegseth to commit to sobriety.

“One of the things I’d love to hear is that he’s committed to not drinking,” Cramer told CNN. “Being familiar with the problems of alcoholism and the dumb things we do when we drink too much, it’d be really nice if he could set that one aside for good, if not at least through his term as secretary.”

Some Republicans think Trump’s nominating controversies could have been avoided if he’d allowed for FBI background checks from the start.

Collins told CNN the Senate needs “an FBI background check to evaluate the allegations.”

“We need to have the normal committee process of questionnaires about his background and we also need to have a public hearing.”

Trump’s transition team signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Justice late Tuesday to facilitate the FBI background checks.

💡Perspectives:

• The Hill: Will Trump buck Senate’s advice and consent role?

• The Hill: A modest proposal for Elon and Vivek.

Read more: 

• Hegseth faces growing GOP scrutiny as allegations mount.

• Gabbard seen as tough lift for Trump in Senate GOP.

• White House press corps recoils at Trump’s threat to shake up briefings.

• President-elect Trump asked the court to throw out his criminal election interference charges in Georgia. Trump’s two federal indictments have already been tossed following his election victory.
   

• The CEO of UnitedHealthcare was fatally shot outside of a Manhattan hotel this morning in what police are describing as a “brazen, targeted attack.”

   

• Conservatives on the Supreme Court appear to be leaning toward upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors after oral arguments in the blockbuster showdown over transgender rights.

• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) rejected a White House request to pass $24 billion in addition aid for Ukraine by the end of the year, saying any further decisions would be made Trump when he takes office. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is signaling a willingness to make concessions to end the war with Russia.

©  AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Will President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter Biden become a litmus test for the 2028 Democratic contenders?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is the latest to denounce the pardon, following Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D).

“I took the president at his word. So by definition, I’m disappointed and can’t support the decision,” Newsom said.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Texas), the chairman of the House Democratic caucus, said at a press conference Wednesday:

“The president gave his word, said publicly that he wasn’t going to give a pardon, and then he did, so that part’s disappointing, I believed him when he said he wasn’t.”

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who was one of only a handful of people to challenge Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary, called the move “tragic.”

“I’m afraid we’re taking some really dark turns,” Phillips told NewsNation’s “On Balance.” “Donald Trump abused pardons. Joe Biden has now done the same, and frankly, most presidents do. I think it’s time for some reform.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called on Biden to take a “case-by-case” look at pardoning working-class Americans in prison for nonviolent crimes.

“This moment calls for liberty and justice for all,” he said.

Meanwhile, the judge in Hunter Biden’s criminal tax case offered a blistering rebuke of the president for claiming his son was unjustly prosecuted.

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi said he would dismiss the case when the official pardon is issued, but he blasted Biden for the blanket immunity he granted his son over an 11-year period.

“The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history,” Scarsi wrote.

Trump’s attorneys cited Biden’s remarks that the Justice Department has been infected by politics in a Tuesday filing seeking to dismiss Trump’s criminal convictions in New York.

“As President Biden put it yesterday, ‘Enough is enough,’” wrote Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, whom Trump has nominated for the No. 2 and No. 3 positions in his Justice Department.

💡Perspectives:

• Notes from the Middle Ground: Democrats should impeach Biden.

• The Hill: How to fix the pardon power.

Read more: 

• Fani Willis ordered to turn over communications in Trump case.

• Kenneth Chesebro seeks to invalidate plea deal in Trump Georgia case.

• Peter Navarro, who went to prison for refusing to comply with a Congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, will act as Trump’s senior counselor on trade and manufacturing.

• Trump nominated former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins to lead the SEC again.

• Monica Crowley, a former Fox News contributor, will have the top public relations post in the State Department.

• Trump reversed course, announcing his top campaign lawyer David Warrington would be his White House counsel. He’d previously tapped William McGinley, who will instead serve as counsel to the Department of Government Efficiency.

• Businessman and Army veteran Daniel Driscoll has been nominated to be secretary of the Army.

• Trump asked Michael Whatley to stay on for another term as chair of the Republican National Committee.

• Trump tapped Jared Isaacman, the billionaire founder of a defense aircraft company and a payment processing firm, to lead NASA.

• Trump named Adam Boehler, who negotiated the Abraham Accords, as his special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.

13 days until electors vote in their states.

16 days until the government funding deadline.

30 days until the new Congress begins and the House leadership elections.

33 days until Congress counts the electoral votes.

47 days until Inauguration Day.

©  Greg Nash

Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif) conceded to Democrat Adam Gray in California’s 13th Congressional District, bringing an end to the last outstanding Congressional race of the 2024 cycle.

Republicans will maintain an ultra-narrow majority in the House, with 220 seats compared to 215 for Democrats.

However, with Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) resignation and Trump tapping two additional GOP House members to serve in his Cabinet, Republicans could be down to a 217-215 majority for several months, giving Speaker Johnson (R-La.) almost no margin for error in managing a caucus that has a reputation for being unruly.

A few developments on Capitol Hill:

• Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) will leave his post as the top Democrat on the powerful Judiciary Committee and endorse Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), despite expressing frustration that Raskin was running against him. Nadler was squeezed by Democrats pushing for a younger generation of leadership. Nadler maintained the top spot on the Judiciary panel since 2017 and oversaw two impeachments of President-elect Trump. 

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is considering a bid to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, a post that’s currently held by Raskin.

• Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has laid out his policy plans: He wants to move first on a budget reconciliation process that prioritizes security and defense, before acting later next year on second reconciliation package to extend the expiring Trump-era tax cuts. However, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that Republicans senators are warning that they have significant disagreements over strategy and policy.

💡Perspectives:

• Very Serious: Deficits matter now even if you pretend not to see them.

• The Liberal Patriot: Will Democrats “Get in Touch” with Working-Class America?

• New York: The Dem center battles the left.

• The Bulwark: I Watched Dems collapse in Florida. It could happen nationally.

• The Atlantic: The rise of the anti-elite elite.

Read more: 

• Hispanic senators press Biden to protect immigrants before leaving.

• Comer challenging work from home deal for federal employees.

• Tuberville calls to make daylight saving time permanent.

• GOP calls for investigation into FEMA for avoiding homes with Trump signs.

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