{"id":118696,"date":"2025-01-26T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=118696"},"modified":"2025-01-25T16:50:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T14:50:57","slug":"25-05-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=118696","title":{"rendered":"GOP Jewish group chair a key player in reviving Hegseth nomination"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>GOP Jewish group chair a key player in reviving Hegseth nomination<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Mike Wagenheim<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThat was my idea,\u201d Norm Coleman said of Pete Hegseth\u2019s fiery Dec. 5 message to the press, which marked a \u201cturning point\u201d in his nomination process. \u201cIt was my one contribution.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

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\nU.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrives to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Dec, 5, 2024 in Washington, DC. Photo by Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

After the Senate voted<\/a> 51-49 along party lines on Thursday to advance Pete Hegseth as U.S. secretary of defense, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he was \u201cvery surprised\u201d that Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted against the nominee. A final vote is expected on Friday, the Associated Press<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The former Fox News<\/em> personality and Bronze Star veteran appears set to be confirmed, but his nomination previously seemed greatly imperiled. That was until Norm Coleman stepped in, the national chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n

A former Minnesota senator, Coleman was selected as an experienced political hand, who knows Washington well, to walk Hegseth through the Senate approval process. Both the veteran and the RJC leader have North Star State ties, as Hegseth was born in Minneapolis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The RJC has also hosted Hegseth on several occasions to speak at events as leader of the Republican-backed advocate group Vets for Freedom, according to Matt Brooks, CEO of the RJC.<\/span><\/p>\n

A surprise choice for the top Pentagon role, Hegseth was put immediately under the microscope, and allegations\u2014which he denied vehemently\u2014emerged of sexual assault and misconduct, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement at the two veterans organizations he led. (Hegseth has said that his drinking has been under control since he embraced religion.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Some critics have also said that Hegseth lacks the management experience to run an entity like the Defense Department, which employs more than 3 million people and has a budget of more than $800 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reports emerged that Trump, then president-elect, was considering dropping Hegseth after key Republican senators, including several loyalists, refused to back the nominee. Some reports said Trump was thinking of offering the role to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. After former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general due to allegations of sexual misconduct, some analysts predicted that Hegseth wasn\u2019t far behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a day on the Hill on Dec. 5 trying to assuage the concerns of senators\u2014and Trump telling the nominee that he had his back\u2014Hegseth was walking down a hallway in the U.S. Capitol when he delivered a fiery message to reporters there. Coleman told JNS that it was his idea, over objections from Hegseth\u2019s team, to talk to the press.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hegseth\u2019s team said, \u201cYou can\u2019t say anything. You can\u2019t,\u201d Coleman told JNS. \u201cI pulled him aside at one point, and I said, \u2018Pete, you\u2019ve got to let people see your heart and let them know you want this and you\u2019re going to fight for this.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe went out there and did that,\u201d Coleman told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Defense, looks on as he is introduced by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14, 2025. Photo by Saul Loeb\/AFP via Getty Images.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

JNS asked if that was a turning point in Hegseth\u2019s nomination process. Coleman laughed and asked JNS to repeat the phrase \u201cturning point\u201d to Brooks, who was standing beside him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI agree it was a turning point,\u201d Coleman told JNS. \u201cThat was my one contribution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With Coleman looking over his left shoulder on Dec. 5, Hegseth told the press, \u201cI\u2019m proud to be here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight, I\u2019m going to be standing right here in this fight, fighting to bring our Pentagon back to what it needs to be,\u201d he added at the time, telling the reporters that he answers only to Trump, God, his family and the 100 senators voting on his confirmation\u2014not the press.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou counsel people to show their heart,\u201d Coleman told JNS. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to get angry, never to get mad, never to police them. Approach them with love, and he showed his heart.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Coleman referred to Hegseth as someone who \u201ccan process a lot of information, and he\u2019s a great communicator.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA combination of having the ability to communicate and having a clear vision of what you need to do and what you can do\u2014like I always tell my son, \u2018Know what you don\u2019t know,\u2019\u201d he told JNS. \u201cIt\u2019s a really important quality, and if people can do that, it\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dec. 5 confrontation marked Hegseth\u2019s first stern, direct pushback against the controversies surrounding him. His nomination chances appeared to take an upward trajectory from there.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved Hegseth on a 14-13 party-line vote on Jan. 20. The Senate voted on Thursday to advance his nomination.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senate Republicans are moving forward despite a last-minute affidavit from Hegseth\u2019s former sister-in-law, obtained by Senate Democrats. The former in-law accused the nominee of abusing his ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, although the latter denies any physical abuse in the marriage.<\/span><\/p>\n

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GOP Jewish group chair a key player in reviving Hegseth nomination Mike Wagenheim \u201cThat was my idea,\u201d Norm Coleman said of Pete Hegseth\u2019s fiery Dec. 5 message to the press, which marked a \u201cturning point\u201d in his nomination process. \u201cIt was my one contribution.\u201d . U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Defense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118696"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118801,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118696\/revisions\/118801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}