Amid pressure, Ernst says she’ll ‘support’ Hegseth through nomination process

After a tough week, Sen. Joni Ernst is suddenly warming to Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth as US Secretary of Defense. This after intensive public campaign pressuring her to say ‘yes’ to the Fox News host.

Since November, US Sen. Joni Ernst has been in the hot seat. For weeks, she’s been among the few Republican voices willing to challenge President-elect Donald Trump and his cabinet choices. 

But in a Monday statement, Ernst appeared to inch closer to supporting Pete Hegseth, Trump’s embattled nominee for Secretary of Defense. She said Hegseth agreed in a meeting to both audit the Pentagon and select a senior official to “prioritize and strengthen” Ernst’s work to prevent sexual assault among soldiers. 

“I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and respect for the process,” Ernst said. “… As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.”

Since Trump announced Hegseth as his pick, stories have emerged about his past. These have included allegations of sexual assault, mismanaging money, and drinking on the job. Additionally, Hegseth—a Fox News host and former Army National Guard officer—has maintained that women should not serve in combat roles in the military. He has explained this as “woke shit” that has made its way into the military. 

“But our institutions don’t have to incentivize that in places where, traditionally — not traditionally, over human history — men in those positions are more capable,” Hegseth said on The Shawn Ryan Show in November.

Notably, Ernst was the first woman combat veteran to serve in the US Senate. Not only does Ernst have a background that would prepare someone to run the sprawling Pentagon, she reportedly expressed interest in doing so. 

But last week, she came under fire from MAGA activists for publicly saying that Hegseth should be properly vetted by Congress. This was met with hysterics from the likes of Conservative activist Rogan O’Handley, who said Iowa native Kari Lake ought to consider a return to the state to take on Ernst in a primary. 

“Say what you will but Kari (Lake) is really good at winning GOP primaries. And that’s all it would take to win in dark red Iowa now,” O’Handley wrote, which drew significant attention across conservative circles on X.

“We are learning a lot about Joni Ernst and the Senate establishment right now,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk wrote on X. “Trump faithful are talking about finding a primary challenger. This is getting very serious.”

But after being mum about how she would vote on Hegseth confirmation, Ernst appears to be in the support column.