ARMY DAZE

Is the talk show host who reportedly once guzzled three gin-and-tonics for breakfast ready to lead the world’s biggest military? Senate Democrats don’t think so — and Pete Hegseth didn’t seem to change their minds this morning.

• Democrats have been freaking out ever since President-elect Donald Trump surprised everyone by choosing Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and former Army National Guard officer with no senior military experience, to be the next defense secretary. Hegseth has since been engulfed in scandal after scandal. But one took center stage for much of the hearing: His drinking problem.

• Hegseth’s penchant for the sauce was a main focus of his confirmation hearing today, where Senate Democrats sprayed him with questions over reports that he’d shown up to host a morning show smelling of alcohol, drunkenly chanted “kill all Muslims” in a bar, and been kicked out of a club for dancing with strippers on stage while wasted. (He denies all these allegations.) Hegseth once promised to not consume a “drop of alcohol if confirmed.” Today, he refused to say whether he’d resign if he drinks on the job when asked by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

• “We need a secretary of defense who’s not going to be drunk,” Hirono told What A Day via video chat shortly after the hearing. “And if he does drink, he should resign.” The country needs to have a guy who’s on his game, she said — implying the acceptable number of breakfast G&T’s for the Sec Def is exactly zero. “Things can happen. China can decide to invade Taiwan. There is a general acknowledgement that these are tough times, that we need to be alert.”

• Look, we here at What A Day have no intention of being flippant about alcoholism. But it’s entirely reasonable to raise these concerns when someone is applying to run the most powerful military in the history of the world.

For the rest of the hearing, Hegseth dodged key, basic questions — including his views on potentially shooting American protestors and the use of military force for the conquest of Greenland or Panama.

• Hegseth touts himself as a fresh face (code for someone lacking applicable job experience) who could revamp the military, which he claims has been hamstringed by DEI policies… and women being able to serve. But he refused to give meaningfully address important hypotheticals: whether he’d authorize shooting protestors in the legs (an idea that Trump has floated in the past); use military force to assault Greenland or the Panama Canal; abide by the Geneva Conventions, a set of international agreements banning war crimes; or take a high-paying job in the defense industry after serving as defense secretary. Hegseth also apparently didn’t know which countries are part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations… naming three U.S. allies that aren’t in the political union. You can’t make this stuff up.

• “I draw the conclusion that there’s very little that he would do to counter anything that President Trump wants him to do,” Hirono said, adding that she thinks he’ll be confirmed. “I believe that all the Republicans will support him, that is my concern … he will have control over 3 million people and have responsibility for a hugely complex department in a hugely complex world,” she added. “[There’s] definitely nothing to indicate that he would be able to do the job of running a department as vast, as complicated as the Department of Defense.”

• Hegseth’s contentious hearing foreshadows what could come for Trump’s other contentious picks, like former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (director of national intelligence), MAGA madman Kash Patel (FBI), and brain worm survivor Robert F. Kennedy Jr (health and human services), None of their hearings have been scheduled yet.

Hegseth’s confirmation vote is now scheduled for January 20 — as if Trump’s Inauguration Day weren’t already going to be chaotic enough. God help us.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

Hamas accepted a draft proposal that would lead to a cease-fire in Gaza, two officials told the Associated Press. The U.S. is hopeful it’ll come together: “I believe we will get a ceasefire,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today. “It’s right on the brink. It’s closer than it’s ever been before.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report into Donald Trump’s alleged election interference concludes that the president-elect would’ve been criminally convicted at trial if he hadn’t won the 2024 election. Don’t mind us, we’re just staring wistfully out the window.

House Republicans passed a bill that would ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports at federally funded schools. The bill now goes to the GOP-controlled Senate for consideration. Last month, NCAA President Charlie Baker told Congress that of over half a million college athletes in the U.S., fewer than ten are transgender.

A new brush fire broke out in Ventura County, California on Monday evening, as firefighters make progress with containing the three other fires that have ravaged the area. Strong winds are expected to persist through Wednesday.

Chinese officials have discussed selling TikTok to centibillionaire conspiracy theorist Elon Musk, according to the Wall Street Journal. But ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, reportedly thinks the best path forward is to allow the app to be banned, retain ownership of it, and then negotiate again when Trump takes office. As a colleague in our semi-famous Crooked Slack put it, “This is truly the worst timeline.”

Speak of the devil, Musk recently criticized the sentencing of a neo-Nazi who was convicted of helping incite a deadly knife attack in England last year. Free speech sure is safe under this guy! (But, uh, are the rest of us???)

Former First Lady Michelle Obama won’t attend Trump’s inauguration next week, which her husband plans to attend, according to People. She also skipped former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral last week, in which she could’ve been seated near Trump. By the way, I happen to have a scheduling conflict for the entire second Trump term. Brb… in 2029.

Crooked’s Jon Favreau spoke with Ken Martin, who’s running for chair of the Democratic National Committee, on Pod Save America today. “We’re not going to invest in things that don’t help us win elections. No more contracts to just line consultants’ pockets. As I’ve said, I’m here to win the U.S. House back, not help a consultant build a new house,” Martin said. That’s a pretty persuasive motto, even if it sounds a bit scripted!

American employees’ enthusiasm for their jobs has dropped to the lowest level in a decade, according to a new survey. Only 31 percent are engaged with their jobs, while 17 percent are actively disengaged. I, for one, am the most engaged and enthused worker of them all. Hear that, boss? Yup, totally engaged!  

You’re no longer allowed to kick up your feet or use the bathroom in Starbucks unless you buy a drink, according to a new policy implemented by the coffee giant. Violators will be asked to leave, and if they don’t law enforcement could be called, the policy states. One more nail in the coffin for Hanging Out.

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