Iowa Senator Joni Ernst announced that she would vote for Pete Hegseth to become Defense Secretary, making his path to Senate confirmation much easier.

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst pressed Pete Hegseth about women’s roles in the military and thanked him for their “frank” discussions as he sat before an often-contentious hearing on his nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Defense Tuesday. Ernst has been ...

Iowa's Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Tuesday she will vote to confirm Pete Hegseth to lead the U.S. Department of Defense, ending weeks of speculation about whether she would stand in opposition to President-elect Donald Trump. “After four years ...

The Iowa senator supports Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, despite allegations of assault and drinking — but she doesn’t want to talk about it.

Ernst, an Army veteran and rape survivor, had previously expressed concerns over Hegseth’s past comments about women in combat roles and the allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against

Trump's Secretary of Defense pick paid the woman to keep their 2017 encounter, which he insists was consensual, secret

Pete Hegseth’s nomination for secretary of the Defense Department has enough Republican support needed to clear the Senate Armed Services Committee after he picked up a key endorsement after his confirmation hearing.

Trump's got the bullhorn now to say, ‘MAGA nation is watching,’” said outgoing Dallas County Republican Party Chair Kelley Koch.

As a rape survivor and advocate for tackling sexual assault in the military, Ernst's support for Hegseth had seemed uncertain due to allegations of sexual assault against him.

Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst confirmed her support for former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of Defense late

More Trump nominees with potentially rocky paths to confirmation face hearings in the Senate this week, including Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kash Patel.