Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing began this morning, and it became clear how well the nominee for Defense Secretary prepared himself for this opponent action. Hegseth came across as self-assured but not arrogant in his opening statement, sat with equanimity through attacks from ranking member Jack Reed during Reed's opening statement, and then argued for his positions with passion and reason. 

If the first contact with opponent action gives any indication, Hegseth should have no trouble getting through the questioning today. Reed spent his seven minutes of direct questioning complaining about Hegseth's partisanship, and then finished it off with a question right out of the Sheldon Whitehouse "boofing" playbook:

Senator Reed: "Would you explain what a 'jagoff' is?"

Pete Hegseth: "It would be a Jag Officer who puts his or her own priorities in front of war fighters." pic.twitter.com/GJFbEAATF7

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 14, 2025

Well, never mind the issues of readiness, the policies of budgetary priorities, and the reform of procurement strategies. Let's tear the lid off of military slang! 

In the first place, everyone knows what a jagoff is. Reed himself in this context qualifies, in fact. If you're from Pennsylvania -- where I believe the term originated -- you have a head start on grasping the definition. In this specific usage, the term got applied, as Hegseth went on to explain, to judge-advocates general (JAGs) who pursued front-line troops for ideological purposes rather than for legitimate prosecutorial interests. 

And ... so what? This is every bit as stupid as Whitehouse's Javert-like pursuit of the term "boofing," which he'd clearly confused with "boffing." Hegseth didn't coin the term, didn't use it recently, and used it when he did in the sense that many others in the ranks did. What's the point of bringing that up in a confirmation hearing? That Hegseth is familiar enough with the rank and file to speak their language and understand their perspective?

Heaven forfend!

As MRC also notes, Reed's complaints about partisanship only allowed Hegseth to drive his point home about social engineering in the military. There is one strategic thinker in this exchange, and it's clearly not Reed:

Pete Hegseth makes a fool of Dem. Senator Jack Reed over DEI in the military

"The DEI policies of today are not the same as what happened back then. They are dividing troops... and not putting meritocracy first." pic.twitter.com/whgUbF0TVD

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) January 14, 2025

I doubt that Hegseth will win any Senate Democrat converts today, but nothing he's done will lose a single Senate Republican. We'll have more as developments warrant, of course, but after three rounds of Democrat questions and declarations, Hegseth has been solid.