Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On President Trump’s Erratic And Unqualified Nominee For Secretary Of Defense, Pete Hegseth

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor ahead of his vote against advancing the nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, urging his colleagues to follow suit in rejecting the deeply erratic and unqualified nominee for this crucial role. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

If there was one word that should never, ever describe a Secretary of Defense, it is “erratic.”

But that is the one word that describes Mr. Hegseth best.

Advancing a Secretary of Defense is one of the most important votes Senators are going to take all year. This man has lives in his hands: lives of citizens, lives of people of the world, and lives of the brave men and women in our armed forces.

So I want my colleagues to think carefully. Of all the people we could have as Secretary of Defense, is Pete Hegseth really the best one we’ve got? Come on, you know he isn't. You know he's not even close!

Is this man the best we have to lead the greatest military in the world?

Is this man, with a known history of excessive drinking, the guy you want on the other end of the phone at 2AM in a crisis, in control of the nuclear codes? Who are we kidding? Who are we kidding?

Is this the man, with a mile-long list of allegations of abusing, degrading, and harassing women, who you want leading our men and women in battle?

Is this the man with a track record of erratic behavior the best you think the members of our military deserve as a leader?

Is this the man – with a truly horrific and devastating lack of judgment – the best you think our country, our fighting men and women, deserve?

Pete Hegseth has proven to lack the necessary morality, sense, judgement.

So, I plead—I plead—with some of my Republican colleagues just to answer me this: do you think this is the best person for the job? Do you think this is the best person we have to lead the best military in the world?

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