Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth told Pete Hegseth he was "wholly unqualified" to be confirmed as Defense secretary.

Heading into Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, the Iowa senator’s support for Donald Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon is seen as critical by the president-elect’s team.

Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth's announcement followed a heated exchange with Pete Hegseth during his confirmation hearing earlier this week.

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for defense secretary had a more amicable exchange with Joni Ernst, a Republican, who is considered a key vote.

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who had been seen as a key Republican skeptic of Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Defense Department, said she will support him after his performance at Tuesday's ...

Ernst, who is one of the top Republicans in the Senate, teased visions for what her leadership of the committee will aim to tackle.

Iowa’s U.S. senators met with Trump nominees last week while representatives acted on bills relating to undocumented immigration and women’s sports.

Pete Hegseth’s views on women in combat were a matter of public record long before the Senate Armed Services Committee heard his case to become Donald Trump’s Defense secretary. Women are “life-givers,

Democrats repeatedly called Pete Hegseth unfit to be secretary of defense, but Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee expressed nothing but support for his candidacy at a confirmation hearing.

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is heading into a potentially explosive Senate confirmation hearing.

So attention will be on the two female Iraq War veterans on the committee — Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democrat Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who lost both legs when a Blackhawk helicopter she was piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Joni Ernst, an Iraq veteran and a survivor of sexual assault ... people who serve us is to lower the standards of the Secretary of Defense?” Peters asked. Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth also asked that, saying “how can we ask these soldiers to ...