1. United States
2. N.M.
3. Letter

As a Navy Commander who retired with 20 years of honorable active duty service, I ask you to vote NO on the confirmation of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of Defense should be someone with years of experience leading a large, diverse organization, who understands the world leadership position of the United States. Hegseth is a right-wing Fox News commentator with a history of promoting extreme views and spreading disinformation. Hegseth’s lack of qualifications and inflammatory rhetoric pose a risk to the integrity of the Department of Defense. He has also called abortion "generational genocide" and vowed to eliminate Biden-era policies that improve access to reproductive healthcare for military servicemembers and their families. His confirmation would undermine the agency’s mission and endanger national security. DoD has been fighting sexual assault and alcohol abuse in the ranks for years. Hegseth has been accused of both showing up to work intoxicated and of sexual assault. He settled the sexual assault case out of court. The last thing our military needs is a leader who does not uphold the values of Honor, Courage and Commitment. Further Hegseth has vowed to remove women from combat roles. Women are more than capable of performing in combat, and in my experience service members don’t care what the race, sex or sexual orientation is of the squad member next to them, as long as they can do the job. Just ask Senator Duckworth! Don’t allow a misogynist like Pete Hegseth to set our military back 50 years. The Trump transition team’s refusal to allow all Senators to review the FBI background check on Hegseth is another red flag. Clearly there is something Hegseth wants to remain hidden. Something that disqualifies him from the position of Secretary of Defense. For these reasons, I ask that you vote NO on his confirmation. Our service members, national security and allies deserve better.