Senate Armed Services Democrats questioned Pete Hegseth about his qualifications to lead the Defense Department, given his limited management experience.

Several Democrats on the panel said Mr. Hegseth’s inexperience is reason enough to oppose his confirmation, outside of personal misconduct allegations they questioned him about during his confirmation hearing Tuesday.

“I don’t think there’s a board of directors in America that would hire you as a CEO with the kind of experience on your resume,” Sen. Gary Peters, Michigan Democrat, said.

Mr. Hegseth is an Army combat veteran and former Fox News host. He acknowledged under questioning from Mr. Peters that the largest organization he’s ever managed is Concerned Veterans for America, which he said had over 100 full-time staff when he was in charge.

“Nothing remotely near the size of the Defense Department, I would acknowledge that,” Mr. Hegseth said. 

Mr. Peters said he wouldn’t expect him to have managed an organization with more than 3 million employees, like the Pentagon has. But he questioned how Mr. Hegseth can speak about raising standards for service members without putting himself under the same microscope.

“Do you think that the way to raise the minimum standards of the people who serve us is to lower the standards for the secretary of defense?” Mr. Peters said. “I have real problems with that.”

He indicated he would oppose Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation, saying, “You have not convinced me that you’re able to take on this tremendous responsibility with a complex organization and having little or no significant management experience.”

Mr. Hegseth responded with a reference to having the confidence of Mr. Trump.

“I’m grateful to be hired by one of the most successful CEOs in American history should I be confirmed,” he said. 

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican, chimed in with an additional defense. 

“You’ve supervised far more people than the average United States senator,” he said. 

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma Republican, said he searched the qualifications for defense secretary and found little set in statute beyond that any veteran must be retired from military service for seven years. 

He suggested that senators grilling Mr. Hegseth on accusations of personal misconduct, like excessive drinking and infidelity, look in the mirror.

“How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night?” Mr. Mullin said. “How many senators have gotten a divorce because they’ve cheated on their wives?”

Mr. Mullin’s critique didn’t stop other senators from grilling Mr. Hegseth on his qualifications. 

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Democrat, questioned whether he has ever led an organization through an audit, given his commitment to secure the first clean audit for the Pentagon. He didn’t directly answer the question, which she said suggested he hasn’t.

Ms. Duckworth asked Mr. Hegseth a series of other questions that he struggled to answer. She asked him about international security agreements and if he could name the importance of at least one nation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or even how many countries are in ASEAN.

“I couldn’t tell you the exact amount of nations in that,” Mr. Hegseth said. “But I know we have allies in South Korea, in Japan and AUKUS with Australia.”

Ms. Duckworth said none of those three countries are in ASEAN. 

“I suggest that you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations,” she said. 

The defense secretary must be ready to lead on Day 1, Ms. Duckworth said, telling Mr. Hegseth, “You are not that person.”

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.