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Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY. Mr. President, I am concerned that soon the U.S. Senate might confirm the most unprepared nominee to lead the Department of Defense that has ever been put forward.

I look at every nominee based on whether they are qualified and committed to do the job. It is how I evaluated nominees from the last President, and it is how I am evaluating nominees from this President. And I approach each person with an open mind. It is our responsibility to make sure the folks we consider are ready to do these jobs for the American people.

But this one, the Secretary of Defense, it is especially important. Outside of the Presidency, it might be the biggest job in the country. It is almost impossible to imagine the scale of it.

You have about 3 million people working for you. You are the civilian leader at the top of a massive operation that includes every single soldier, sailor, guardian, airman, marine, and civilian contractor and employee. These folks are spread out across hundreds of military installations in dozens of countries. So it is basically the toughest management job in the world.

You are also responsible for overseeing a budget that exceeds $850 billion every single year, so it is one of the most complicated budget- management jobs in the world as well.

You are overseeing some of the most complicated weapons systems and defense programs that exist. Some of these are multibillion-dollar projects that happen over the course of years to develop, test, and field.

It is also one of the most demanding policy and program implementation jobs.

Now, not every Secretary of Defense nominee checks the box for each of those qualifications. It is impossible for us to expect that. The job is too big. But what is clear to me at the end of this process is that Mr. Hegseth does not check any of the boxes.

I appreciate his service in the U.S. Army and his service to this country, especially in combat, but that is not a requirement for this role.

During his career in the Guard and Reserve, Mr. Hegseth did not rise to a command position where he would learn the management, joint forces operations, logistics, and other skills that are relevant to fill this job. In his civilian roles, he has led two veterans organizations, neither of which were larger than about 50 people. And he spent 7 years as a TV host. Normally, this would be the end of the conversation. Normally, it would be clear to every single person in this Chamber that this is not someone ready to do this job.

Now, I understand that the case for his nomination is in part because he is an outsider--I get that--that he can shake things up. I am not opposed to that. The Pentagon needs to be leaner. It needs to move more quickly and be willing to lose things that aren't working and adopt things that will work. Having someone who isn't beholden to the current way of doing things--that is exciting.

My concern is not that Mr. Hegseth is going to succeed in whipping the Pentagon into shape; my concern is that he would fail. Given his lack of experience, it is much more likely that the bureaucracy is going to crush Mr. Hegseth than he is going to crush the bureaucracy. It is not just that Mr. Hegseth is unprepared for this role; the experience he does have is riddled with serious issues that should concern us all.

During his time leading two veterans organizations, he was accused of financial mismanagement.

In 2009, after just about 2 years leading a group called Vets for Freedom, it has been reported that forensic accountants found that the organization had about $1,000 in the bank, more than $400,000 in unpaid bills, and $75,000 in credit card debt. Mr. Hegseth wants to get the Pentagon to finally pass an audit. Yet the much smaller--much smaller-- organization he led could not do the same.

During his time leading Concerned Veterans for America, the organization was forced to reach a financial settlement with a female employee who accused a male colleague of trying to sexually assault her. The woman was reportedly ostracized and faced reprisals in the workplace after that settlement. For a Department that is working to address sexual assault and harassment, what would it say to confirm someone who has already fostered environments where these are an issue?

It has also been reported that he frequently abused alcohol, getting drunk in front of his staff and in public. I want to remind folks of some of these incidents:

Memorial Day 2014; CVA event in Virginia Beach. Hegseth needed to be carried out of the event.

Summer 2014 in Cleveland. Drunk in public with the CVA team.

November 2014; ``Get Out the Vote'' event in North Carolina. Hegseth got drunk with three young female staff members. CVA had instituted a no-alcohol policy at its events in October--this was 1 month later--but Mr. Hegseth and another manager lifted the policy.

In December 2014, at the CVA Christmas party at the Grand Hyatt in this city, Washington, DC, Hegseth was ``noticeably intoxicated and had to be carried up to his room.''

Another time, a CVA staffer stated that Hegseth ``passed out'' in the back of a party bus.

On May 29, 2015, a now-former CVA employee sent a complaint letter to management that Hegseth was chanting ``Kill All Muslims'' at a bar in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, in ``a drunk and violent manner.''

While at FOX News, in October 2017, following his dinner speech at the California Federation of Republican Women's 40th Biennial Convention in Monterey, CA, Hegseth was reportedly engaged in a loud argument by the pool and was ``very intoxicated.''

FOX News employees have reported that after a St. Patrick's Day segment on St. Patrick's Day, after being on TV, Hegseth drank several beers that had been sitting out for hours. These employees also noted that the segment finished before 10 a.m. and they were shocked at Hegseth's behavior.

One current and two former FOX News employees told NBC News that they felt that they had to ``babysit'' Hegseth to mitigate the effects of his drinking. This is a quote: ``We'd have to call him to make sure he didn't oversleep because we knew he'd be out partying the night before.''

Two FOX employees--current or former--said that on more than a dozen occasions during Hegseth's time as a cohost on ``Fox & Friends Weekend,'' which began in 2017, they smelled alcohol on him before he went on air. That was in the morning. Those same two people, plus another, said that during his time there, he appeared on television after they heard him talk about being hungover as he was getting ready or on set.

In the fall of 2024, one FOX employee said they heard him complain about being hungover.

In November 2024, one FOX employee said they smelled alcohol on him as recently as this past November, 3 months ago.

During his confirmation hearing, I gave Mr. Hegseth the opportunity to answer for a number of these incidents. I asked him point blank: Are these true or false?

He had the opportunity to say ``These things did not happen'' or to explain how he is prepared to account for them and how he won't repeat this concerning behavior as Secretary of Defense. He wouldn't answer, with one notable exception. I asked him about reports that in 2014 he was drunk at a strip club with staff in Louisiana. He replied to me: Absolutely not. He specifically denied that incident. He was prepared to say that one--but only that one--didn't happen, but the rest of these incidents, well, he would not deny them. Instead, he called them ``anonymous smears.''

Well, first of all, they are not all anonymous. The committee has had access to sworn affidavits from individuals who witnessed this behavior firsthand.

This confirmation process was rushed. The FBI background check, which the entire committee was never given access to, was clearly inadequate and had to be updated multiple times. And despite repeated efforts, Mr. Hegseth has refused to meet with me and many others on the committee in private to discuss these concerns further.

But beyond all of that, it defies belief that this behavior does not represent a pattern. The incidents listed earlier stretch out across a decade. These are individuals who worked with him across three different organizations, and in each place, these people witnessed him abuse alcohol. It is obvious to anyone willing to see it that this is a pattern.

Let's be clear. These are not smears. If Mr. Hegseth were a private citizen, these issues with alcohol would only be a concern for those around him. But when you are nominated to be Secretary of Defense, it is a concern for all of us, each and every American. This is not a job where you clock in at the beginning of the day and clock out at the end of the day. You have to be able to move seamlessly between advising the President on matters of national security, sitting with foreign leaders to hammer out agreements, and discussing complex weapons systems with your staff. And that might just be in the afternoon. Some of these things might happen on a plane across an ocean on a weeklong trip or during a phone call that comes late at night, with quick decisions that affect the lives of our servicemembers.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Robert McNamara was briefed at midnight about the first photographs from U-2 spy planes showing the likelihood of Soviet ballistic missile sites in Cuba. The same has likely happened when North Korea has tested ballistic missiles that could threaten Guam or our allies.

This is a demanding job for anyone. It is a concerning job for someone with Mr. Hegseth's track record.

So as the Senate moves towards a final confirmation vote on this nominee, Mr. Hegseth, here is what I want to ask my colleagues: Are you sure? Are you sure that you trust him with this job? Are you sure there isn't another individual the President could choose who could pursue the same goals but is better prepared to do this job? Are you sure it is worth the risk to our servicemembers, to our national security, and to your families?

I know I am not.

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