Ernst To Pay Political Price For Stalling

DefSec Nominee Pete Hegseth, Senator Joni Ernst

President-elect Donald Trump’s allies are expected to ramp up criticisms against Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst as she stalls on offering support to Trump’s secretary of defense pick, Pete Hegseth. 

"It's really this simple: If you oppose President Trump's nominees, you oppose the Trump agenda and there will be a political price to pay for that. We are well aware that there are certain establishment Senators trying to tank the President's nominees to make him look weak and damage him politically, and we're just not going to allow that to happen," a top Trump ally told Fox News Digital. 

​​Trump nominated Hegseth, a former National Guard officer, as secretary of defense last month, saying "with Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down." Hegseth was a host on "Fox & Friends Weekend" before Trump's nomination. 

Hegseth, a former host on The Fox News Channel, has been on Capitol Hill meeting with Republican senators to rally support as he battles allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing. 

Joni Ernst is one of 14 that wants to hear about the allegations against Pete Hegseth before voting for his appointment.

I think Joni & her cronies should have allegations thrown at them & let’s see if they understand what it means to be falsely accused with no evidence or basis… pic.twitter.com/PUV8ndnojh

— ♥️🇺🇸 𝓒𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓪 🇮🇹♥️ (@CB618444) December 5, 2024

Ernst sits on the ​​Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold the secretary of defense nominee’s confirmation hearing, and met with Hegseth last week. Ernst, however, has withheld committing to voting in favor of Hegseth.

​​"Pete Hegseth and I will continue our constructive conversations as we move forward together in this process. We plan to meet again next week. At a minimum, we agree that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing," Ernst said last week after meeting with Hegseth.

Hegseth added in his own comment on the meeting with Ernst, that he had a "substantive conversation with Senator Ernst, I appreciate her sincere commitment to defense policy, and I look forward to meeting with her again next week."