Five takeaways from Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's prime for defence secretary, cleared his archetypal hurdle connected the mode to confirmation: a agelong - and astatine times tense - proceeding earlier the Senate's Armed Services Committee.

For much than 4 hours connected Tuesday, Hegseth faced questions astir his quality to tally the Defence Department, including its 3 cardinal employees and $849bn (£695bn) budget.

And though helium was grilled by Democrats implicit accusations of intersexual assault, infidelity and drinking successful the workplace, helium appears each but definite to beryllium confirmed to the relation aft nary Republicans came retired against him.

This was underscored aboriginal connected Tuesday erstwhile Joni Ernst, 1 Republican who had been seen arsenic a imaginable roadblock to his nomination, said she would enactment him.

Here's a look astatine the 5 main takeaways from Hegseth's testimony.

From the precise commencement of his testimony, Hegseth, a subject veteran, emphasised what helium called a "warrior culture", vowing to instrumentality the absorption of the Defence Department to the spot of America's military.

"Warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That's it. That is my job," helium said successful his opening statements.

As the proceeding continued, Hegseth was captious of policies helium felt harmed the ratio and "lethality" of the military, namely efforts aimed astatine radical and sex diversity.

"This is not a clip for equity," helium said, adding that helium opposes quotas, which helium claims wounded morale.

Hegseth, who astatine 44 would beryllium the youngest defence caput successful decades, besides answered questions astir his preparedness to tally the defence department, a sprawling agency.

The erstwhile Fox News big described himself arsenic a "change agent", saying "it's clip to springiness idiosyncratic with particulate connected his boots the helm."

Some Republicans deemed Hegseth's deficiency of acquisition a strength.

"I conscionable privation to accidental for each the speech of acquisition and not coming from the aforesaid cocktail parties that imperishable Washington is utilized to, you are a enactment of caller air," Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri, said.

A postgraduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Hegseth was an infantry platoon person successful Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Hegseth, besides a erstwhile Fox News TV host, has subject acquisition successful Afghanistan arsenic well.

Still, Democrats pressed Hegseth connected his qualifications for the apical subject job. Reporting from US media recovered that Hegseth's tenures astatine the helm of 2 non-profit veterans groups ended successful fiscal disarray.

Combat seasoned Tammy Duckworth focused connected whether Hegseth had ever supervised an audit.

"Senator, successful some of the organisations I ran, we were ever wholly fiscally responsible," Hegseth began, earlier Duckworth chopped in.

"Yes oregon no? Did you pb an audit? Do you not cognize this answer?" Duckworth said.

Some experts told the BBC they were astir struck by however small Hegseth talked astir however he'd grip the job's subject complexities.

Aside from little mentions of China and the warfare successful Ukraine and Russia, senators did not inquire Hegseth specifically astir existent conflicts, and different imaginable subject adversaries and strategical rivals.

Those cardinal issues were mostly "crowded out" by the questions astir Hegseth's quality and competence, said Mara Karlin, erstwhile adjunct caput of defence for strategy, plans, and capabilities.

"What's astonishing astir the proceeding is conscionable however small absorption determination has been connected the breadstuff and food of what the caput of defence has to do, which is support the nation, and guarantee you person a subject susceptible of winning conflicts," Karlin said.

A 2017 accusation of intersexual battle successful Monterey, California, which surfaced soon aft Trump tapped him for the Pentagon role, came up repeatedly.

According to a constabulary report, an unnamed pistillate said Hegseth took her telephone and blocked the doorway erstwhile she tried to permission his edifice country earlier sexually assaulting her.

Hegseth has denied immoderate wrongdoing. His lawyer acknowledged Hegseth had paid an undisclosed magnitude to enactment quiescent astir the incident.

On Tuesday, Hegseth chiefly went connected the offensive, decrying a "coordinated smear campaign" orchestrated by the left-wing media. "They privation to destruct me."

But astatine different times successful the hearing, Hegseth responded to questions astir his behaviour with passionate references to his Christian faith.

"I americium not a cleanable person, but redemption is real," helium said.