Sen. Time Kaine (D-Va.) reaffirmed his pressure on President-elect Trump’s Department of Defense choice Pete Hegseth and said he asked tough questions last week because his Republican colleagues needed to hear the answers.
Kaine joined CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where he was asked about his repeated questioning of Hegseth’s sexual encounter with a woman, infidelity and reports of public drunkenness.
“I believe he would be a very dangerous secretary of defense and so my observation of my Republican colleagues is the only reason they ever vote no on a nominee is either a belief of gross incompetence in terms of qualifications or serious character deficit,” Kaine said, pointing to former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) withdrawing.
Kaine pressed Hegseth hard in the hearing, asking if he had taken an oath in marriage to remain faithful, just as he would take an oath to uphold the Constitution if confirmed to the position.
The senator asked Hegseth if he had ever committed an act of violence against a spouse. Hegseth said “absolutely not.”
On Sunday, Kaine acknowledged Democrats’ minority in the senate and how Trump’s nominees don’t need their votes. Instead, his sharp line of questioning was intended to shape and change the minds of Republicans.
“I believe my questions about Pete Hegseth about his serial infidelity, about the allegation of sexual assault that he refused to disclose to President-elect Trump and the transition team, and his own mother’s allegation that he’s a serial abuser of women, I think those are the kinds of things that might affect how Republicans view this, if not in the committee, possibly on the floor,” Kaine said.
Kaine said it was “so unusual” that Hegseth refused to meet with any Democratic senators ahead of his hearing. He noted that other Trump nominees, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have been in various meetings to show Democrats more of who they are and why they are qualified for the job.
“When he refused to meet with us and you only have seven minutes, we divided up topics,” Kaine said. “I asked him about what I consider to be glaring faults of character.”
“I think overall, in the hearing, we put a lot of material on the table for folks to consider,” he said.
