Blumenthal, brandishing Form 990 tax returns, confronts Hegseth (at left) at Senate confirmation hearing.
With the nation watching, Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal hit the “gotcha” button Tuesday.
Blumenthal took a seven-minute-seventeen-second turn questioning Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth in a confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. (You can watch the full exchange here.)
It was a charged moment: Hegseth is among the most controversial of the nominees President-Elect Donald Trump has put forward for his cabinet.
It was left to female members of the committee — Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Jeanne Shaheen, Joni Ernst — to question Hegseth on the most explosive allegations against him, including accusations of rape (which he denies), problem drinking (not denied), and opposition to opportunities for women.
It was left to Blumenthal to raise a non-gender-related concern raised about Hegseth: His lack of experience running a large organization like the Pentagon.
Blumenthal came armed with props: Copies of the form 990 tax returns from two nonprofits Hegseth has run, Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans For America, with budgets maxing out under $10 million.
The senator cited deficits the organizations ran, up to $137,000, along with five-figure debts.
“That isn’t the kind of fiscal management we want at the Department of Defense. That’s an organization of $850 billion. Not $10 or $15 million, which was the case at those two organizations. It has command responsibility for 3.4 million Americans. The highest number you managed in those organizations was maybe 50 people,” Blumenthal told him.
Hegseth, practiced in the art of televised combat from his years as a Fox News personality, sought to interject responses as Blumenthal, practiced in the art of televised hearing questioning from 14 years in office, plowed ahead with the planned gotchas.
He asked Hegseth how many people are currently on active duty with the Army. When Hegseth tried first to answer the fiscal mismanagement allegations, Blumenthal pressed him to answer.
“Four hundred fifty thousand,” Hegseth responded.
How about the Navy?
“Four hundred twenty-five thousand,” Hegseth responded.
Gotcha!
“It’s 373,000 this year,” Blumenthal corrected the witness, proceeding with a question about the current Marine head count.
“One hundred seventy-five thousand,” Hegseth responded.
Gotcha again!
“One hundred seventy-two thousand three hundred,” Blumenthal corrected him.
The senator’s time ran out, and female senators continued the questioning about rape, black-out drinking, and allegedly showing up drunk at work, along with whether he would comply with a presidential order to shoot protesters in the leg. He did not respond to that last one.