Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, cleared the first hurdle to his confirmation: a lengthy and sometimes tense hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

For more than four hours on Tuesday, Heggs faced questions about his ability to run the Defense Department, which includes its three million staff and $849bn (£695bn) budget. even though he is grilled by Democrats over sexual assault, infidelity and alcohol abuse accusations In the workplace, most Republicans on the committee appear to support him.

Democratic opposition in the Senate meant Hegseth could only lose three Republican votes and still be confirmed.

Here are five key takeaways from Hegseth’s testimony.

From the beginning of his testimony, Hegseth is a veteran; Emphasizing what he called a “warrior Pentagon,” he vowed to refocus the Department of Defense on U.S. military power.

“Combat, lethality, elite, standards and readiness. That’s it. That’s my job,” he said in his opening statement.

As the hearing continued, Hegseth became very critical of policies that he believed undermined the military’s effectiveness and “lethality,” namely efforts to achieve racial and gender diversity.

“This is not the time to pursue fairness,” he said, adding that he opposed quotas, which he believed would hurt morale.

In a predictably partisan hearing, Democrats grilled Hegseth repeatedly about past statements that women were unfit for combat roles in the military.

Similar questions from Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono and Elizabeth Warren were the most heated moments of the morning.

He spoke to Massachusetts Sen. Warren, who tried to point out comments made about female service members years ago.

“Mr. Hegseth, I quoted you on the podcast: ‘Women should not be in combat at all,'” Warren said.

Hegseth remained calm, responding that his concern was not about women in combat but simply maintaining the military’s “standards.”

The 44-year-old Hegseth, who will be the youngest defense secretary in decades, also answered questions about whether he is ready to run the massive agency that is the Defense Department.

The former Fox News host described himself as a “change agent” and said “it’s time for people with dust on their boots to take the helm.”

Some Republicans see Hegseth’s lack of experience as an advantage.

“I just want to say that even though you’re talking about experience and not coming from the same cocktail party that regular Washington is used to, you’re a breath of fresh air,” said Republican Sen. Eric Schmidt of Missouri. ”

A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard University, Hegseth served as an infantry platoon leader at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Hegseth is also a former Fox News TV host and has military experience in Afghanistan.

Still, Democrats pressed Hegers over questions about his qualifications for the top military job. U.S. media reports found that Hegseth helmed two nonprofit veterans during his tenure Group ends in financial disarray.

Veteran Tammy Duckworth focused on whether Hegseth had ever overseen the audit.

“Senator, in both organizations that I’ve run, we’ve always been fully fiscally responsible,” Hegseth began, before Duckworth interjected.

“Yes or no? Have you ever led an audit? Don’t you know the answer to that?” Duckworth said.

Some experts told the BBC they were most shocked by how little Hegseth had said about how he would handle the military complexities of the job.

Aside from brief mentions of China and the wars in Ukraine and Russia, senators did not ask Hegseth specifically about current conflicts or other potential military adversaries and strategic rivals.

Mara Carlin, former assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities, said those basic questions were mostly “crowded out” by questions about Hegseth’s character and capabilities.

“What was striking about the hearing was how little attention was paid to the basic job the secretary of defense must do, which is to protect the country and ensure we have a military capable of winning conflicts,” Carlin said.

A sexual assault allegation surfaced in Monterey, Calif., in 2017, shortly after Trump appointed him to the Pentagon job.

An unnamed woman said Hegseth took her phone and blocked the door when she tried to leave the hotel room, then sexually assaulted her, according to the police report.

Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer acknowledged that Hegseth paid an undisclosed amount to remain silent about the incident.

On Tuesday, Hegseth went largely on the offensive, denouncing a “coordinated smear campaign” orchestrated by left-wing media. “They wanted to destroy me.”

But at other points in the hearing, Hegseth spoke passionately of his Christian faith in response to questions about his conduct.

“I’m not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” he said.