Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, said women shouldn't serve in combat roles in the military before he walked his comments back.

A senator told Hegseth: "I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations."

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst announced that she would vote for Pete Hegseth to become Defense Secretary, making his path to Senate confirmation much easier.

Republicans appear poised to confirm Trump’s controversial nominee to lead the government’s largest and most complex agency

Sen. John Curtis said he’s decided to support President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. The Utah Republican was one of a few GOP senators who had not declared how he would vote on Hegseth’s nomination. This makes Hegseth much more likely to clinch the Cabinet position.

Pete Hegseth could hardly be more suited to be Donald Trump’s secretary of Defense — even though he’d surely be deemed unqualified by any conventional president.

Pete Hegseth, center, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, right, as they depart a meeting with Republican House members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The report doesn't offer material from Hegseth's ex-wives or a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017. Hegseth has said that encounter was consensual, and prosecutors never filed charges.

At his confirmation hearing, the defense-secretary nominee looked like a man who understood that the fix was in.

“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert said defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is facing allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct. But he also has his supporters, including Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who flubbed a key line as he wrapped up his defense of Hegseth during Tuesday’s confirmation hearing.

Pete Hegseth’s views on women in combat were a matter of public record long before the Senate Armed Services Committee heard his case to become Donald Trump’s Defense secretary. Women are “life-givers,