Wesley Hunt in the running for Defense Secretary if Hegseth fails- Washington Examiner
The article discusses Rep. Wesley Hunt,a Republican from Texas,being considered as a candidate for Secretary of Defense should the nomination of another nominee,likely under scrutiny,fail. This potential nomination is linked to the transition team of President-elect Donald Trump. The text suggests that Hunt is among a select group of lawmakers eyed for this important position in the incoming administration.
Wesley Hunt on defense secretary short list if Hegseth nomination fails
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) is among a handful of lawmakers being considered by President-elect Donald Trump‘s transition team to replace embattled Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, a source familiar confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
Hunt was vetted by Trump’s camp in October, before the presidential election last month, and was endorsed by Trump in his reelection bid for Texas‘s 38th Congressional District.
He spent much of the lead-up to the election as a top campaign surrogate, garnering support among black voters for Trump.
But there is some concern that if Trump were to nominate Hunt, a U.S. Army veteran, it would cut further into House Republicans’ vanishingly slim majority next year, as Trump has already tapped multiple GOP lawmakers to serve in his administration.
Hegseth has a difficult pathway to Senate confirmation in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct and drunken behavior, accusations that he denies. He’s also faced some blowback for saying women should not serve in combat roles.
“What you’re seeing right now with me, it is the classic art of the smear,” Hegseth said on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Show, which was released Wednesday. “Take whatever tiny kernels of truth, and there are tiny, tiny ones in there, and blow them up into a masquerade of a narrative about somebody that I am definitely not.”
Hegseth also spent Wednesday on Capitol Hill meeting with Republican lawmakers but has denied he will travel to Mar-a-Lago on Thursday to meet with Trump.
Several Republican lawmakers, including Hunt, have defended Hegseth’s nomination, but there is growing concern that he could be forced to withdraw if enough Republican senators refuse to back him.
“We have to trust President Trump’s judgment,” Hunt told Forbes last week in support of Trump’s Cabinet nominees.
“His picks are the people that he wants to change Washington and change the status quo,” he also said. “And so I would caution against bucking what the American public voted for.”
Trump is looking at other alternatives to replace Hegseth, including Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), his onetime primary rival, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a source familiar told the Washington Examiner.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
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