Senator Ernst says she will “support” President Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense Pete Hegseth as he goes through the Senate’s confirmation process, though she has not yet committed to voting for him when he gets to the floor, if at all. She has already been threatened by conservatives with a primary challenge in 2026. 

In a statement following her meeting with Mr. Hegseth on Monday, Ms. Ernst said she won some concessions from the nominee on issues around defense spending and support for women in the military. Ms. Ernst — an Army veteran who served for a year in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom — had been concerned about Mr. Hegseth’s past comments about women in combat roles, as well as allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. 

“I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and respect for the process. Following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women based on quality and standards,” Ms. Ernst says. 

“As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources,” she added. 

Ms. Ernst has for weeks hinted that she may not support Mr. Hegseth. The Iowa senator sits on the Armed Services Committee, which will hold hearings for Mr. Hegseth’s nomination and investigate past behavior. Other Republican members of the committee have said they are unsure how they will vote on Mr. Hegseth’s nomination, though Ms. Ernst’s objections have sparked a fierce backlash from Trump allies. 

When Ms. Ernst first said she was concerned about Mr. Hegseth’s nomination, conservatives pointed out that she was up for reelection in 2026, and could not survive politically in Iowa without Trump’s backing. 

The person most likely to challenge Ms. Ernst in two years is the state’s attorney general, Brenna Bird, who was the first statewide official to endorse Trump ahead of the Iowa caucuses in 2023. Ms. Bird also served as an officer at the Republican National Convention this past summer, where she put Vice President-elect Vance’s name up for nomination after Trump made his pick. 

On Friday — as Ms. Ernst was publicly not committing one way or another to Mr. Hegseth — Ms. Bird wrote an opinion piece in Breitbart that not-so-subtly criticized her state’s junior senator. Ms. Bird said “D.C. politicians” shouldn’t have a say in whether or not Trump gets his chosen cabinet nominees, given that mandate he won this year. 

“In recent days, it’s become clear that D.C. politicians think they can ignore the voices of their constituents and entertain smears from the same outlets that have pushed out lies for years,” Ms. Bird writes. “When voters select a president, they are selecting that president’s vision for a cabinet that will enact his agenda. On November 5, America voted for change, and for Washington to work for America — not the other way around.”