“The jury is still out on women serving in military combat.”

Almost a fifth of the US military are women

After former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) stepped down as attorney general last week, Hegseth is now widely seen as the most controversial of Trump’s unorthodox Cabinet nominees. Hegseth is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in California in 2017 and admitted in a confidential settlement to paying her to do so. Hegseth was not charged with a crime and said the sexual interaction was consensual.

In addition, Hegseth has ties to Christ Church, a Christian nationalist congregation based in Moscow, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.

Risch’s weekend counterpart, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, advocated for keeping women in the military fighting. Currently, women make up nearly a fifth of the U.S. military, she said.

“If women believe they cannot fully participate in our military and take on combat roles, that will impact the willingness of women to join our military,” Shaheen said. “That will have a significant impact on our readiness and our ability to carry out the mission of the men and women of the Armed Forces, and I think that will be clearly asked at the (confirmation) hearing for Mr. Hegseth.”

She said she is committed to continuing to address the problem of sexual assault in the military until it is resolved. Because of the allegations against him, Hegseth’s nomination could complicate those efforts, said Shaheen, a former New Hampshire governor.

“I don’t think having someone with a questionable record on this issue sends a message to the women of the military that we want to send or the women of the country that we want to send,” she said.

U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, told Politco last week that he supports Hegseth for defense secretary. But he believed the nominee needed to walk back his previous statements about the future of U.S. servicewomen in combat to improve his chances of Senate confirmation.

“Combat readiness requirements must be the same for women as for men,” Cramer said. “And there are many women who meet that standard that many men have not been able to meet. In that case, why wouldn’t you allow women to fight?”

Over the weekend, Risch, who said he considers Trump a friend, hit out at those who have criticized the president-elect for choosing “loyalists” over people with clearer qualifications for key Cabinet posts.

“Well, well, well. Who would you expect from him, someone who is not loyal?” Risch said, turning to Shaheen. “I suspect when you were governor like I was, the list I had was essentially people who were loyal to me, and if they said they weren’t, they wouldn’t be on the list. So don’t be surprised.”