Mississippi, Armed Services Chair, said Pete Hegseth "helped himself immensely" after the contentious hearing.

Three days ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, many of his most prominent Cabinet choices have sailed relatively unscathed through their hearings and are poised to win confirmation as Republican senators rallied around them and appeared largely unwilling to defy Trump’s wishes.

Iowa senator Joni Ernst, a veteran Republican and herself a victim of sexual assault, has been less than enthusiastic about his nomination, however. If today’s hearings indicate she still has doubts - despite intense pressure from Trump's team to fall in line behind Hegseth - it could indicate that his path to confirmation still has some obstacles.

Democrats say Hegseth’s lack of experience, comments about women and Black troops, and allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct make him unfit to serve. Some takeaways from the hearing:

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Fox News host Hegseth to be the new Secretary of Defense. His hearing Tuesday, Jan. 14, was the first in a series of confirmation hearings to vet the incoming president's top choices for key leadership roles.

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.

The Senate is holding more confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks ahead of his return to office on Monday.

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has selected four top Republican allies to be part of his unofficial cabinet as he looks to make his own impression on the upper chamber after taking the mantle from longtime GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,

Senate confirmation hearings for the Trump cabinet continue on Thursday. They will include Doug Burgum for interior secretary, Scott Turner for housing secretary and Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency administrator at 10 a.m. Eastern, and Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary at 10:30 a.m.

Of course, there is much more than just those three steps to saving a democracy. In the Democracy Playbook, we lay out four more main pillars: reinforce civic and media space, protect pluralistic governance, counter disinformation, and make democracy deliver.

As he assumes the presidency for a second time, Donald Trump brings with him a broad expanse of business relationships and financial entanglements—and the possibility that those associations could influence his decision-making in the White House.

Confirmation hearings for Donald Trump's cabinet nominees kicked off Tuesday with his controversial Pentagon pick, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host dogged by sexual assault allegations and no expe