The centrist who could prove vital to the Pentagon nominee's future was recently approached by a third-party individual with access to the alleged accuser.

WASHINGTON − Senators pressed Pete Hegseth on his alleged history of heavy drinking, shifting views on women in the military, and his treatment of women in a wide-ranging and often combative confirmation hearing on Tuesday to assess if he is up to the job of Secretary of Defense.

The Iowa Republican’s decision dramatically increases the likelihood that Mr. Hegseth will have enough votes to be confirmed as President-elect Donald J. Trump’s defense secretary.

Senators of both parties hammered Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Defense nominee, over his past comments about women serving in the military.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa announced on Tuesday that she would be voting for Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth—bringing one of the chamber’s last remaining Republican skeptics into line and significantly raising the former Fox News host and Army veteran’s chances of being confirmed.

Stonewalling questions about his sexual behavior and excessive drinking as “anonymous smears,” the Fox host charmed the Senate Armed Services Committee’s GOP majority into submission.

The FBI has interviewed multiple individuals about defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s personal life as part of its background check investigation, sources say.

It is the first serious test of Donald Trump’s newly invigorated strongman model of governance and of whether he can continue to bend the Republican Party to his will even as Hegseth breaks procedural precedents,

Maine's independent senator questioned the former Fox News host and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan about women in combat, torture and the war in Ukraine.

Sen. Joni Ernst’s support is a huge boost to Hegseth’s prospects, all but assuring his confirmation as defense secretary barring twists in the GOP-led Senate.

Pete Hegseth, the controversial former Fox News host, has been accused of sexual assault and faces a grueling confirmation hearing on the path to becoming the next secretary of defense.

Culture wars and personal issues are expected to dominate a hearing for Donald Trump’s choice to be the country's next defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.