Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is brushing off the allegations against Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, arguing that all people have some “indiscretions” in their pasts.
The remark — made on conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s show — comes as Hegseth faces accusations regarding sexual assault and excessive drinking, which are threatening to tank his bid to be the next Pentagon chief.
“I think Pete Hegseth was an exceptional pick,” Roy said. “I know he’s under fire with the Senate, but he’s under fire from squishy senators who have been against everything we want to do. And so I hope Pete holds the line all the way through. I’m defending him, and we should all defend him.”
“You know look, we’ve all had some indiscretions in our past and things like that, every human has,” Roy added. “But good grief, Pete Hegseth, he’s got the support of so many people and he represents somebody who would take on the defense establishment, and we need that, desperately need that.”
Hegseth was on Capitol Hill meeting with senators this week, working to gin up support for his nomination to lead the Department of Defense. That effort, however, has run into difficulty, as some lawmakers raise concerns about the former Fox News host’s past.
Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017 and signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of a financial settlement he paid to the woman. He denied any wrongdoing. And over the weekend, The New Yorker magazine reported on a whistleblower report regarding Hegseth’s time as president of the Concerned Veterans of America, which spanned from 2013-2016, that described him as being intoxicated while on the job, among other allegations.
Hegseth this week pledged to stop drinking if confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
With Democrats expected to vote against Hegseth’s confirmation, he can only afford to lose support from three Republicans. Trump has been mulling alternatives to Hegseth, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a source told The Hill.
While Roy has no bearing on whether Hegseth gets confirmed, since the Senate has the advice and consent authority, his remarks could help the nominee as he works to amp up support publicly.
Roy took to the House floor on Thursday to back Hegseth and some of Trump’s other nominees, arguing that the president-elect deserves to fill his cabinet with people he wants to work alongside.
“I watch the Senate Republicans doing this dance of hand-wringing and concern about the president’s nominees,” Roy said. “The president was elected by the American people to change this town. He has nominated people who want to change this town.”
“If you want to go overturn every rock of everybody’s past and then say that they are not capable or they don’t deserve to serve in a position like secretary of Defense, as is currently occurring with the targeted attacks on Pete Hegseth, well, maybe you should take the board out of your eye,” he added. “I’m not saying that we don’t have standards that are appropriate in the advise and consent process. We do and we should. I’m a believer in that, in separation of powers. But the President also is deserving of the courtesy and the respect of his own party, in particular, of the individuals he’s nominating to change the town. He was elected to change it.”
Roy, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, also voiced his support for Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nominee to lead the department of Health and Human Services.
The two are facing various controversies that are threatening their chances of confirmation: Gabbard, a former Democrat, is facing skepticism for her past comments about the Russian-Ukraine war that were sympathetic to Moscow and echoed by Russian state media; Kennedy, another former Democrat, has raised eyebrows for his vaccine skepticism.
Roy, however, offered a defense for the pair.
“You don’t like Tulsi because she’s a Democrat, get over it,” Roy said. “She’s not anymore, she’s a Republican now, but she was in this chamber, I served with her. She’s a Democrat.”
“You don’t like Bobby Kennedy because he’s a, from the iconic Democrat family, get over it,” he added. “I don’t agree with Bobby Kennedy on a lot of different things, but I agree with him that we need to fundamentally change our health care system, that we need to make America healthy again.”
