By most accounts, Mr. Hegseth acquitted himself reasonably well yesterday–at least the Democratic pique suggests that he did not give them the ability to turn away his nomination. But should he be SecDef? I agree that the President should be given general leeway to pick his or her own cabinet, but constitutionally the Senate is supposed to provide both advice and consent. That does not mean rubber stamp.* And in this particular president’s case, he has shown poor judgment in many of his picks. He even admits that most of his first term picks were mistakes (not sufficiently beholden to his agenda) even though he picked them and often publicly praised him until they weren’t. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General was an epically bad pick, and I’m grateful he’s withdrawn. I’m similar concerned about Tulsi Gabbard and RFK, Jr. But what about Mr. Hegseth?

First of all, most of the concerns people have are real and while not necessarily a blemish on his character, are substantial, e.g., what experience has he had running a large organization? What track record does he have of being a change agent? His positions have been, shall we say, fluid (e.g., women in combat). And his record of running a non-profit was less than stellar. And then we have his personal life and problems with alcohol. Yet he does have perspectives that many of his predecessors did not have, e.g. extensive military experience. And, very important, a specific focus area of several years that is consistent with both the president-elect and the mood of the electorate, that is the need to rid the DoD of woke/DEI policies and to focus on warfighting capability.

My concerns are two-fold. First, and this is a larger criticism of Mr. Trump, I find repugnant the idea that Mr. Hegseth is uniquely qualified to both run the DoD and do so with a focus towards Mr. Trump’s goal of radical DoD change. It was bad enough to be told by Trumpians that only Donald Trump could effect the change that is required of a president, but to extend that to his nominees (only Pete Hegseth, only Tulsi Gabbard, only RFK, Jr), that they alone are sufficiently capable to do the job and share the president’s vision is incredible hubris. We have close to 350M Americans. I am quite confident that just a little more effort could have found highly qualified and sufficiently MAGA-credentialed people to run the DoD without Mr. Hegseth’s baggage–and there is baggage. Mr. Trump could have spared us this debate. Secondly, I’m very concerned about his ability to be compromised. According to press accounts, Mr. Hegseth had not made the administration aware of his previous sexual assault. He denied the assault, but then in order to preserve his lucrative Fox News gig, paid the lady off. Well, if he put himself in the position of being extorted, and was extorted, then he has already shown that he can be blackmailed. That is something that should give pause for any security clearance. How much more should we be concerned about him having the role of SecDef? Are we really sure that’s all there is?

But it appears he is going to get through based on yesterday’s hearings. Beyond the concerns I have above, the other concerns surrounding his experience can be mitigated by an exceptional DepSecDef (Deputy Secretary of Defense), as well as the Assistant Secretaries of Defense. Should Mr. Hegseth be confirmed, he can be the voice of change within the organization but will necessarily need the help of an experienced executive, ideally someone with experience within the DoD. That should help and ensure the ability to implement the change agent’s proposed changes. I wish Mr. Hegseth well–there is much that needs to be cleaned up in the DoD.

* In many cases this will actually protect the president from his worst instincts. For example, his promise to RFK, Jr does not mean the Senators should put someone in a position where they could royally mess up.