Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, has picked up some positive news this week on his nomination.

During an interview on CNN, Tennessee GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty announced his support for the embattled nominee. The endorsement provides a significant boost as Hegseth faces mounting skepticism from within his party over his qualifications and readiness to lead the Pentagon.

ullscreen
“Well, I’d say this: I was just with Pete meeting with a large group of House members, and he had an ovation that was resounding,” Hagerty said. “I think that Pete is, as people get to know him again, as people get to see his deliberation, his deliberate stance on trying to repair the Pentagon, try to fix our recruiting crisis, our retention crisis, I think people are overwhelmingly supportive of him.”

Hagerty was very positive about how the approval process for Hegseth was going. Some Republicans were worried about Hegseth’s lack of high-level defense experience.

“And I think that’s going to continue to move in the right direction,” Hagerty added. “I’ll admit him, is with Pete right now.”