Four years of attacks on the Democratic Party from MAGA Republicans haven’t been lost on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who encouraged his chamber colleagues to use the upcoming confirmation hearings to respond in kind.
And Schumer has his sights first set on President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of former Fox News weekend co-host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, according to a report in Politico. The New York senator is expected to gather with Democrats on the Armed Services Committee on Monday a day before Hegseth’s confirmation hearing begins.
“Republicans spent four years attacking the Democratic brand and we need to use the hearings to begin returning the favor,” Schumer told top Democrats in a private meeting in early January, according to the report.
Schumer on Monday revealed his position publicly when he delivered a speech on the Senate floor zeroing in on Hegseth, among other topics. In it, he promised Hegseth’s hearings would be an “opening salvo to holding the Trump administration accountable.”
The Democratic Senate leader also called the sexual assault and drinking allegations against Hegseth “deeply troubling.”
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Sen. Jack Reed (D-IL) is so far the only top Democrat in the chamber to read the FBI’s background check of Hegseth since it was handed to Congress last week, according to Politico.
The publication added that “paperwork delays” were to blame for lawmakers receiving background checks and “other materials” related to top Trump nominees late.
And Reed reportedly said that a meeting last week between him and Hegseth did nothing to relieve his concerns about the Army veteran's nomination to become the country's next defense secretary. Hegseth has denied wrongdoing, but the issues swirling around his background check will likely emerge in the hearings, Politico noted.
Schumer has also attacked Republicans for “rushing” confirmation hearings of Trump nominees including Hegseth.