Mississippi, Armed Services Chair, said Pete Hegseth "helped himself immensely" after the contentious hearing.

"We must not underestimate the importance of having a top-shelf communicator as secretary of defense," Wicker said.

Democrats say Hegseth’s lack of experience, comments about women and Black troops, and allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct make him unfit to serve. Some takeaways from the hearing:

Following his win over Kamala Harris, Donald Trump has been assembling the administration for his second term in the White House.

Donald Trump is returning to the White House vowing to seek retribution. Those in his sights are worried both about him — and his supporters.

There’s not only one Donald Trump or Bill Clinton in the U.S. What's it like to share a presidential name? Ask Abraham Lincoln or Grover Cleveland.

Unlike any other president, Donald Trump has tested the words and ideas in the literal text of the US Constitution, from the Preamble through the 27th Amendment. There are multiple passages he has said or suggested he will ignore or reinterpret.

Three days ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, many of his most prominent Cabinet choices have sailed relatively unscathed through their hearings and are poised to win confirmation as Republican senators rallied around them and appeared largely unwilling to defy Trump’s wishes.

The Senate is holding more confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks ahead of his return to office on Monday.

Senate confirmation hearings for the Trump cabinet continue on Thursday. They will include Doug Burgum for interior secretary, Scott Turner for housing secretary and Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency administrator at 10 a.m. Eastern, and Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary at 10:30 a.m.

Minnesotan Pete Hegseth was combative at times, as he was forced to confront the allegations of misconduct and his own comments that are far from the military mainstream.

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, acknowledged Tuesday he is “not a perfect person” but was