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Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has softened her objections to some of President-elect Donald Trump's appointees, and one international affairs expert thinks he knows why.

Retired U.S. Naval War College professor Tom Nichols told MSNBC that Ernst may simply be waiting for Defense secretary appointee Pete Hegseth to "implode" so she can take over his job.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) called out defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth for "genuflecting" to President-elect Donald Trump instead of saying he would obey the U.S. Constitution.

During Tuesday's Senate confirmation hearing, Slotkin noted "that no president has the right to use the uniform military in a way that violates the U.S. Constitution and further taints the military as that apolitical institution that we all want."

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) literally yelled at defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth as he dodged questions about his fiscal leadership at several veterans organizations.

"Mr. Hegseth, this hearing is about whether you are qualified to be secretary of defense," Duckworth explained during Tuesday's Senate confirmation hearing. "And any sense that the Department of Defense that keeps us safe is being steered by someone who is wholly unprepared for the job puts America at risk."

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) apologized to defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth after he was confronted about sexual assault allegations.

During a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, multiple Democratic senators noted that Hegseth had been accused of raping a woman.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) called out Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's defense secretary nominee, after he refused to commit to resigning from the position if he drank alcohol while at work.

During Tuesday's confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hirono asked Hegseth about reports that he had problems with alcoholism.

"The View's" Whoopi Goldberg attacked Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for saying that if the federal government helps southern California after the wildfires, the funds should be "conditional."

"This is the thing: a burnt house doesn't care who you voted for," Goldberg said. "When you've lost everything, that's not what is on your mind, okay? And for you to threaten and forget all the people you think live out there with all the money, it's all the folks who work in the banks, who do hair, who write the tickets that need to be — all those people, they also lost their homes."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) unloaded on defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth for his remarks about women serving in combat.

At Tuesday's Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, Gillibrand noted that Hegseth had "denigrated" women in the military.

Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) hammered Donald Trump's nominee to head the Department of Defense Tuesday.

Among comments Pete Hegseth has made are those relating to his objection to women in combat roles and the integration of all race, gender and orientations in the military — which he calls a "diversity, equity and inclusion" program."

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, was immediately hit with protests as he gave his opening remarks at his confirmation hearing.

The protests came moments after Hegseth began speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz on Tuesday broke down damning evidence laid out in former special counsel Jack Smith's final report on President-elect Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

In breaking down Smith's report, Polantz found it remarkable just how much detail the former special counsel puts into documenting Trump's relentless deceit.