Michigan’s two U.S. senators attempted to grill President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense on Tuesday, and now they’re getting grilled online.

Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, Michigan’s senior senator, questioned former Fox News anchor and former Army National Guard officer Pete Hegseth about his qualifications to lead an armed forces of about 3 million during a confirmation hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Hegseth noted he supervised just over 100 employees and thousands of volunteers as the head of two different veterans’ advocacy groups, but acknowledged that was “nothing remotely near the size of the Defense Department.”

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“I don’t know of any corporate board of directors that would hire a CEO for a major company if they came and said, you know, I supervised 100 people before,” Peters said. “We need innovation. Can you give me an experience or your actual experience of driving innovation in an organization? Give me an example of where you have done that.”

Hegseth’s response forced Peters to cut off the nominee and move on to other gotcha questions.

“Oh, absolutely,” Hegseth said. “At Concerned Veterans for America, we created the Fixing Veterans’ Task Force, a bipartisan task force that had never been done before, to create policy, drive policy change on Capitol Hill that organizations fought ferociously against. We got the VA Accountability Act passed, and the Mission Act passed in a way that a nonprofit of our size, a veterans organization, has never done.”

“Ok, great, thank you,” Peters interrupted. “We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Alright. Ok.”

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

Do you think Elon Musk should purchase Facebook?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from The Midwesterner, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

The embarrassing exchange for Peters wasn’t lost on folks online.

“This is why one NEVER asks questions they don’t already know the answer to. 100% rookie mistake for a very much NON-rookie,” one X user posted. “What a choad.”

“Pete Hegseth’s response to Senator Peters was a masterclass in how Trump appointees handle tough questions with substance and confidence,” wrote another. “It’s clear why Trump’s choices are so effective!”

Peters’ comments were also met with ridicule from his colleagues in the upper chamber, including Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Mr. Hegseth, it seems to me that you’ve supervised far more people than the average United States senator supervises,” Wicker said to laughter and applause.

“There’s a lot of talk going about talking about qualifications, and then about us hiring him if we are the board,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., added. “But there’s a lot of senators here I wouldn’t have on my board.”

It was a similarly embarrassing experience for Sen. Elissa Slotkin, the former CIA agent and U.S. representative elected to the Senate in November.

Slotkin repeatedly questioned Hegseth, a decorated infantry platoon leader, whether he would violate the U.S. Constitution if ordered to do so by Trump, but the president-elect’s nominee refused to take the bait.

“I reject the premise that President Trump will be giving any illegal orders at all,” Hegseth said.

Slotkin pointed to comments from Trump that he’s considering using the miliary to remove “the enemy within,” and pressed Hegseth on whether he’s been a party to conversations to use the military “inside the United States.”

Hegseth refused to divulge his conversations with President-elect Trump, then leveraged Slotkin’s question to discuss more important matters.

“Senator, I’m glad we finally got to the topic of border security equaling national security because it’s been abdicated and ignored for the last four years,” he said.

“Certainly, I have been involved in conversations related to doing things this administration has not, which is secure the southern border and not allow floods of illegals to enter our country through an invasion that threatens the American people,” Hegseth said.

Another question from Slotkin: “If Donald Trump asked you to use the 82nd Airborne in law enforcement roles in Washington, D.C., would you also convince him otherwise?”

Slotkin alleged former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper convinced the 45th POTUS against the same during his first term.

“I’m not going to get ahead of conversations I would have with the president, however there are laws and processes inside our constitution that would be followed,” Hegseth said.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Charlie LeDuff highlighted the folly of Slotkin’s questions following the hearing, while others roasted the new senator online.

“Would somebody inform newby Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin that troops from the 82nd and 101st Airborne were deployed to Detroit in 1967 to quell civil unrest?” LeDuff posted to X. “That 6,000 federal troops were deployed to Detroit in 1943 to quell civil unrest? Helps to know the place you represent.”


“I’m embarrassed of Elissa Slotkin,” one X user wrote. “I can proudly say I did not vote for her.”

“Having a hard time believing that Slotkin and Trump won on the same ballot,” posted another.

“Embarrassing,” yet another post read. “Maybe there should be more qualifications to be a senator.”