Excerpted from Pete Hegsett’s trial five

Pete Hughes, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, has cleared the first hurdle on the road to confirmation: a long and sometimes tense hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

For more than four hours on Tuesday, Hughes faced questions about his ability to manage the Defense Department, including its three million staff and $849bn (£695bn) budget.

And though he is Burned by Democrats on charges of sexual assault, infidelity and drinking With no Republicans at work against him, it seems all but certain.

That came to the fore on Tuesday when Joni Ernst, a Republican seen as an obstacle to the nomination, said she would support him.

Check out the top five takeaways from Hegsett’s testimony.

From the beginning of his testimony, Hughes, a military veteran; He pledged to return the Defense Department’s focus to the U.S. military, emphasizing what he called a “warrior culture.”

In his opening remarks, “War, lethality, envy, standards and readiness. That’s it. That’s my job.”

As the hearing continued, Hegseth criticized policies that harmed the military’s efficiency and “killing” efforts aimed at racial and gender disparities.

“This is not the time for fairness,” he said, arguing that quotas would hurt morale.

In what is expected to be a bipartisan hearing, Democrats have repeatedly called out Hegseth for remarks suggesting that women are ineligible to serve in the military.

Questions from Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono and Elizabeth Warren provided the hottest moments of the morning.

She spoke out against Warren, the Massachusetts senator, who has been trying to point out comments about female service members for years.

“Mr. Hegseth, I’m quoting you on the podcast: ‘Women should never go to war,'” Warren said.

Hegseth remained belligerent, responding that his concern was not women in combat, but simply the maintenance of “standards” in the military.

Hegseth, who at 44 is the youngest defense secretary in decades, also fielded questions about his readiness to lead the sprawling Defense Department.

The former Fox News host described himself as an “agent of change,” saying, “It’s time to give leadership to someone who has dust on his shoes.”

Some Republicans saw Hegsett’s inexperience as a strength.

“I just want to talk about experience and not coming from the same cocktail parties that permanent Washington is used to, you’re a breath of fresh air,” said Sen. Eric Schmidt, Republican of Missouri.

A graduate of Princeton and Harvard Universities, Hegseth served as an infantry commander at Guantanamo Bay and Iraq and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Hegseth, also a former Fox News TV host, also has military experience in Afghanistan.

Still, Democrats pressed Hegseth for a top military job. Hegsett’s tenure in the US media was reported by two non-profit veterans Groups are in financial trouble.

Struggle veteran Tammy Duckworth focused on whether Hegseth ever controlled the audit.

“Senator, in both agencies that I’ve run, we’ve always been completely fiscally responsible,” Hughes began, before Duckworth stepped in.

“Yes or no? Did you conduct an audit? You don’t know the answer to this?” Duckworth said.

Some experts told the BBC they were impressed by the younger Hegseth’s handling of the military complexities of the job.

Aside from brief mentions of China and the Ukraine-Russia war, the senators did not ask Hegseth about current conflicts and other potential military adversaries and strategic rivals.

Those fundamental issues are “overshadowed” by questions about Hegsett’s character and competence, said Mara Carlin, former assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities.

“What’s striking at the hearing is how little attention the secretary of defense has to do to protect the nation and the bread and butter of having a military that can win conflicts,” Carlin said.

A 2017 allegation of sexual assault in Monterey, California, surfaced shortly after Trump assumed the role at the Pentagon.

According to the police report, the woman, who has not been named, said Hegseth took her phone and locked the door as she tried to leave the hotel room.

Hegseth said he had done nothing wrong. Hegseth, the lawyer, admitted he paid an undisclosed amount of money to keep quiet about the incident.

On Tuesday, Hegsett went on the offensive, denouncing a “coordinated smear campaign” orchestrated by the left-wing media. “They want to destroy me.”

But at another point in the hearing, Hegseth responded to questions about his behavior by passionately citing his Christian faith.

“I’m not a perfect man, but redemption is real,” he said.