U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said she had a “substantive” meeting Wednesday with President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, who faces uncertain confirmation prospects due to past sexual assault and excessive drinking allegations.
Hegseth, a military veteran and former Fox News host, planned numerous meetings this week on Capitol Hill with senators viewed as key to either confirming or defeating him, including Collins and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate after winning back the chamber from Democrats in the November election.
Collins has not shared much on her exchanges with Trump’s controversial nominees, such as last week’s meeting she described as “excellent” with Elon Musk, the world’s richest man whom Trump tapped to help lead a new department focused on cutting federal spending.
Collins, a Maine Republican up for reelection in 2026, is projecting openness to hearing from each nominee while Trump’s allies threaten to primary Republican senators who block his picks. The senator has never faced a primary since being elected in 1996.
Collins said her discussion with Hegseth, who has also questioned the role of women in combat, lasted more than an hour and covered a “wide range of topics,” such as sexual assault in the military, Ukraine and NATO.
“I asked virtually every question under the sun. I pressed him on both his position on military issues as well as the allegations against him,” Collins said. “So I don’t think there was anything that we did not cover.”
Hegseth told reporters after the meeting that he had “a wonderful conversation” with Collins on ensuring “this Pentagon is focused on warfighting and lethality,” and he added “we look forward to staying in touch with her.”
A woman accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her in 2017, and Hegseth later paid a confidential amount of money to her to settle the case while denying wrongdoing and never facing criminal charges. Several current and former colleagues from Hegseth’s time as a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend” have also shared concerns over his drinking and how they could smell alcohol on him before he went on air, though others have defended him.
Hegseth’s odds of winning confirmation have also been challenged by his call for a controversial Christian approach to governing and his mother previously accusing him of abusing women before walking the comments back recently.
Trump is standing by Hegseth, 44, even after reportedly considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a replacement pick to lead the Pentagon as faith in his nomination wavered.
Collins has otherwise said she wants the Senate to thoroughly vet each Trump nominee. Other Republicans have signaled support for Hegseth. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, noted she is a sexual assault survivor and said over the weekend she was not ready to back Hegseth before striking a more optimistic tone after meeting with him Monday.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats and serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last weekend Republicans are “in a very tough place” and alluded to threats by Musk and other Trump allies to fund primaries against those who oppose nominees.
Regarding Hegseth, King also said he is “very concerned about what I’ve seen.”
“And I don’t want somebody who could be compromised in terms of his ability to do the job, or could be compromised by actions that he’d taken in the past that would lead to somebody having a hold over him,” King said.
