爱荷华州共和党参议员乔尼·恩斯特(Joni Ernst)周四表示，她不准备支持当选总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)选择的国防部长人选皮特·黑格塞斯(Pete Hegseth)。
“嗯，我昨天确实和皮特进行了一次很长很长的讨论，我很欣赏他为国家做出的贡献。我也是一名战斗老兵。因此，我们讨论了其中的一些问题，我们将继续审查过程。我认为这非常重要，”恩斯特告诉福克斯新闻频道。“所以，我要说的是，我们进行了非常坦率和富有成效的讨论，我知道我们将继续进行几个月的对话。”
在主持人比尔·赫默的追问下，“你的回答听起来不像是你得到了肯定的回答，”恩斯特回答说，“我认为你是对的。”
赫格塞斯继续在国会山四处奔走，试图说服参议员们相信，在性行为不端、酗酒和财务管理不善的指控中，他能够胜任这项工作。他否认这些指控。
他在周三会见了恩斯特，她是军事委员会的一名重要共和党成员，也是一名性侵犯的幸存者。
在离开会议时，赫格塞斯告诉记者，他和恩斯特进行了“引人入胜和富有启发性的谈话”
恩斯特后来发布“我很欣赏皮特·赫格塞斯对我们国家的贡献，这是我们都有的。今天，作为确认过程的一部分，我们进行了坦率而彻底的交谈。”
美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)此前报道称，恩斯特是越来越多的候选人之一，有可能取代海格塞斯成为特朗普挑选的国防部领导人。
当周三被问及她是否有可能被考虑取代海格塞斯时，她只是回答说，“海格塞斯先生是被提名人。”她对他们的会面是否减轻了她可能有的任何担忧守口如瓶。
恩斯特是参议院中第一位女性战斗老兵。她还长期支持旨在解决军队中性侵犯和性骚扰问题的立法，并直言不讳地讲述了自己在性侵犯、强奸和家庭暴力方面的经历。
值得注意的是，Hegseth说，女性不应该在军队中担任战斗角色，他继续面临自己的性行为不端和不当的指控。
海格塞斯否认了性侵犯指控。周三，他在梅根·凯利的节目中表示，对于强奸指控“绝对不会”，他否认了许多关于他虐待女性的指控。
随着赫格塞斯的确认过程结束，所有的目光都将聚焦在恩斯特身上。上个月，Ernst告诉ABC新闻，对Hegseth进行美国联邦调查局背景调查将是“有帮助的”
在接受采访时彭博新闻2019年，恩斯特首次披露了她在爱荷华州立大学上学时被强奸的细节，她含泪讲述了与强奸她的人发生“身体和性虐待”的关系。
在大学期间，她在一个为受虐妇女和儿童设立的安全之家做志愿者。
在与彭博谈话时，恩斯特还声称她的前夫盖尔·恩斯特(Gail Ernst)对她进行了身体虐待，在一次事件中，他“掐住[她的]喉咙”，然后将[她]摔倒在地，“重击[她的]头部”盖尔·恩斯特当时拒绝对这些指控发表评论。
恩斯特还声称在军队中忍受过性骚扰，她描述说时代杂志2014年。
“我有评论，通行证，诸如此类的东西，”恩斯特说。“有些事情我可以说停就停了，但也有其他情况，无论男女，他们都不会停下来，他们可能害怕报告。”
恩斯特在一份声明中说:“性侵犯在我们的军队或其他任何地方都没有一席之地，我们早就应该采取更多措施来预防和减少这些令人心痛的犯罪。”声明在2021年提出防止军队性侵的两党法案后。
在加入美国之前，恩斯特20岁时是爱荷华州立大学后备军官训练队的成员。军队保留。她后来在科威特担任爱荷华州国民警卫队运输部队的连长。
她在国民警卫队和陆军预备役呆了23年，退役时是一名中校。
恩斯特一直直言不讳地表示她支持特朗普，尽管他也一直在被指控性侵犯多名女性所为-对此他一再否认。恩斯特甚至是一个成为他竞选伙伴的竞争者在2016年的选举中。
“我会鼓励女性站出来说，‘你知道吗，我不会忍受他的胡说八道，但我确实同意他的这项政策，’”恩斯特在2016年接受世卫组织采访时说。“有时候，我们必须透过一个人的某些方面来看问题，并弄清楚我们是否一致。”
她还告诉彭博,“认为任何性侵犯的受害者都应该是希拉里的支持者，这是令人愤慨的”
恩斯特于2014年当选参议员，成为第一位在国会两院代表爱荷华州的女性。
Key GOP senator says she's not ready to support Hegseth for defense secretary
Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said Thursday she isn't ready to support Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary.
"Well, I did have a very long, lengthy discussion with Pete yesterday, and I do appreciate his service to the nation. I also am a combat veteran. So, we talked about a number of those issues, and we will continue with the vetting process. I think that is incredibly important," Ernst told Fox News. "So, again, all I'm saying is we had a very frank and productive discussion, and I know that we will continue to have conversations for months."
Pressed by host Bill Hemmer that it "doesn't sound in your answer that you got to a yes," Ernst replied, "I think you are right."
Hegseth continues to make the rounds on Capitol Hill to try to convince senators that he's up to the job amid allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of finances. He denies the allegations.
He met Wednesday with Ernst, a key Republican member of the Armed Services committee and herself a survivor of sexual assault.
Upon leaving the meeting, Hegseth told reporters that he and Ernst had an "engaging and instructive conversation."
Ernstlater posted, "I appreciate Pete Hegseth's service to our country, something we both share. Today, as part of the confirmation process, we had a frank and thorough conversation."
ABC News has previously reported Ernst to be on a growing list of candidates emerging to possibly replace Hegseth as Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense.
When asked Wednesday if there was any chance she was being considered to replace Hegseth, she merely responded, "Mr. Hegseth is the nominee." She was tight-lipped over whether their meeting alleviated any concerns she might have.
Ernst is the first female combat veteran in the Senate. She also has a long record of supporting legislation aimed at addressing sexual assault and harassment in the military, and has been outspoken about her own experiences with sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence.
Notably, Hegseth has said that women should not serve in combat roles in the military, and he continues to face his own allegations of sexual misconduct and impropriety.
Hegseth has denied the sexual assault allegations. On Wednesday, he told the Megyn Kelly show "absolutely not" in regards to rape accusations, and he denied many of the claims that he mistreated women.
All eyes will be on Ernst as Hegseth's confirmation process plays out. Last month, Ernst told ABC News that an FBI background check into Hegseth would be "helpful."
In an interview withBloomberg Newsin 2019, Ernst first disclosed the details of her rape as a college student at Iowa State University, in which she tearfully retold being in a "physically and sexually abusive" relationship with someone who raped her.
During her college years, she volunteered at a safe house for battered and abused women and children.
While speaking to Bloomberg, Ernst also alleged that her ex-husband, Gail Ernst, had physically abused her in an incident in which he "grabbed [her] by the throat" before he "threw [her]" on the ground and "pounded [her] head." Gail Ernst declined to comment on the allegations at the time.
Ernst also claimed to have endured sexual harassment in the military, which she described toTime Magazinein 2014.
"I had comments, passes, things like that," Ernst said. "These were some things where I was able to say stop and it simply stopped but there are other circumstances both for women and for men where they don't stop and they may be afraid to report it."
"Sexual assault has no place in our military -- or anywhere else -- and it's far past time we take more steps toward preventing and reducing these heart-wrenching crimes," Ernst said in astatementafter introducing a bipartisan bill in 2021 to prevent military sexual assault.
Ernst was a member of Iowa State University's ROTC program at 20 years old before joining the U.S.ArmyReserve. She later served as a company commander of an Iowa National Guard transportation unit in Kuwait.
She spent 23 years in the National Guard and Army Reserve and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Ernst has been vocal about her support for Trump, despite him also having beenaccused of sexual assaultby multiple women -- which he has repeatedly denied. Ernst was even acontender to be his running matein the 2016 election.
"I would encourage women to stand up and say, 'You know what, I'm not going to put up with his nonsense, but I do agree with him on this policy,'" Ernst said in a 2016 interview with WHO. "Sometimes we have to look beyond certain aspects of a person and figure out do we agree."
She also told Bloomberg that it was "outrageous to suggest that anyone who has been the victim of sexual assault should therefore be a Hillary Clinton supporter."
Ernst became the first woman to represent Iowa in either house of Congress when she was elected to the Senate in 2014.
