Sen. Blumenthal grilled SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth on his qualifications despite reaffirming current support for the job SecDef Lloyd Austin has done.

Defense Secretary Austin will bid farewell Friday following a term that included three major military crises, a global pandemic and a brush with cancer.

Pete Hegseth has made it through his confirmation hearing and now appears to be on a glide path for confirmation as secretary of defense. The hearing, which lasted four hours, subjected Hegseth to questioning before the Senate’s Armed Services Committee in an attempt to gauge the Trump nominee’s worldview and qualifications to run a nuclear-armed entity with a nearly one-trillion-dollar budget.

Wicker did not specify what day the vote would take place, but said it could be as late as next Thursday if Senate Democrats do not allow the chamber to speed up the confirmation process.

A senator told Hegseth: "I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations."

Awkward exchanges about the defense secretary hopeful’s past were plentiful as Democrats went after the first embattled Trump pick to face a confirmation hearing.

Pete Hegseth must be approved by the GOP-led Senate Armed Services Committee before he can go before the full Senate for confirmation.

Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon endured fierce Democratic grilling over everything from his inexperience, alleged drinking and his past opposition to women in combat to emerge largely unscathed among Republicans at his confirmation hearing.

In what is expected to be the most rigorous confirmation hearing this week, Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel were the direct result of President Biden’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Democrats said Hegseth’s lack of experience, his past comments about women and Black troops and allegations of excessive drinking, and sexual misconduct, make him unfit to serve. Republicans described him as "unconventional" but an “excellent choice.

Hegseth says he will be a “change agent” and a “warrior” as Republicans demand new and strong leadership at the Pentagon.