Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said the military “could not do its job” without “the women who serve” while taking aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s controversial speech about the impending revamp of the military under the Trump administration.
“Well, this is the least qualified secretary of defense in our nation’s history, and he’s questioning the ability of the women who actually qualified to ... to do their jobs,” Duckworth, an Army veteran, said of Hegseth while appearing on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday. “The female rangers, the females that graduated from SEAL school, have met those highest standards.”
Duckworth, who lost her legs and partial use of her right arm when an RPG hit her Black Hawk helicopter in Iraq in 2004, accused Hegseth of trying to “push women out of the military.”
“He has long sought to push women out of the military. And, frankly, our military could not do its job of protecting America and keeping us safe without the women who serve in the military,” she said.
Hegseth has faced criticism for emphasizing gender neutral fitness standards for combat jobs.
