Questions for the Secretary of Defense Nominee
Missile Defense, Nuclear Proliferation, and Loyalty
[Update: The Senate has set the date for Hegseth’s hearing for January 14th.]
Here’s some questions for Mr. Hegseth - or his successor - which the Senate Committee on the Armed Services should ask, and insist on answers to:
1. Given that President Trump abandoned intermediate-range missile defense during his first administration, due in part to perceived Russian cheating, thereby enabling Putin to build and deploy an intermediate-range missile, and use it in Ukraine to threaten nuclear escalation, what steps do you plan to take to try and put this particular nuclear genie back in the bottle?
What command in the Pentagon will lead this effort?
Which foreign entities must this leadership interact with?
2. Do you believe that missile defense is a critical component of national security and, if so, what steps do you plan to take to re-establish effective missile defense?
3. Do you believe that Ukraine should win Putin’s war?
4. Given that President Trump during his first term withdrew from the Iran security pact, thereby enabling Iran to proceed with nuclear enrichment processes which brings Iran to within days of building its first nuclear weapons, what steps do you plan to take to try and put this, Trump’s 2nd, nuclear genie back into the bottle?
5. North Korea: given that President Trump, during his first term befriended Dictator Kim, and North Korea has just advanced Troops into Ukraine, and expanded its nuclear missile reach, what steps would you take to put the lid back on this murderous North Korean regime?
6. How will you work to ensure that the US Military sustains its loyalty to the US Constitution and is not distracted and diminished by those who would switch their loyalty to the President?
What contacts have you had with Former General Micheal Flynn?
7. Given the pressure on government spending, what areas of defense spending can endure less spending, to facilitate more spending in areas where we need to more urgently compete? What are those areas and why?
8. If you believe the US is in a period of strategic atrophy, what are the necessary conditions for working our way out of this trend? What priorities would you set to ensure this is accomplished?
9. What are the top strategic trends emerging from Putin’s war in Ukraine? How will you set priorities to ensure these trends become strategic advantages for the US military?
10. For each of these questions, please describe the specific expertise which you possess, and how it was acquired, that will assist you in achieving these strategic goals.
Question Notes and Resources:
Related Links to nominees for: