Sen. Joni Ernst Might be Warming Up to Pete Hegseth ‘After ‘Encouraging Conversations’
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) seems to have changed her tone on President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.
Ernst has received a ton of backlash because she wouldn’t automatically commit to confirming Hegseth.
Ernst serves on the Senate Committee on Armed Services. She’s the first female combat veteran elected to the senate. She’s also a rape survivor.
Hegseth and Ernst held their second interview today.
From The Des Moines Register:
“I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and respect for the process,” said Ernst, who has been facing increased pressure to offer an endorsement of Trump’s nominee.”Following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women — based on quality and standards, not quotas — and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks. As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.”
I’m seeing way too many headlines saying Ernst will vote for Hegseth.
However:
Ernst’s staff would not clarify whether her statement means she will vote in support of Hegseth’s nomination.”She supports Pete through this process,” spokesperson Kelsi Daniell said in a text message. Ernst echoed that to CNN, saying, “I support the process.”
Hegseth has maintained professionalism throughout the process, never bad mouthing Ernst or her concerns.
He shared a picture of them after the interview.
After their first interview, Ernst refused to commit to a yes vote. The media and the left have been printing stories about sexual assault allegations, alcohol abuse allegations, and mismanaging his nonprofits.
At the time, Ernst spoke to Fox News:
“We talked about a number of those issues and we will continue with the vetting process,” Ernst said. “I think that that is incredibly important, so again all I’m saying is we had a very frank and productive discussion, and I know that we will continue to have conversation in the upcoming months.”Hemmer pressed Ernst and said “it doesn’t sound in your answer that you’ve gotten to a yes.”“I think you are right,” Ernst said. “I think for a number of our senators, they want to make sure that any allegations have been cleared and that’s why we have to have a very thorough vetting process…”
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