Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, one of the Republican senators who has yet to say whether she will vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, secured key commitments from the nominee during his confirmation hearing Tuesday.

Ms. Ernst said she has had “very frank conversations” with Mr. Hegseth privately about her top priorities and asked him publicly to commit to three of them: shepherding the Pentagon to its first clean audit, supporting women in combat and combating sexual assault in the military.

First, she asked if he will take steps to ensure the Pentagon has a clean audit by 2028.

“The DOD is the only federal agency that has never passed an audit,” Ms. Ernst said, calling that “unacceptable.”

Mr. Hegseth said previous defense secretaries haven’t emphasized passing audits as a “strategic prerogative” but vowed he will, saying he views it as “an issue of national security and frankly respect to the American taxpayers.”

“You have my word: It will be a priority,” he said.

Ms. Ernst then asked him to clarify his previous remarks about women serving in combat roles, following up on a line of questioning from other senators.

“I do believe in high standards,” she said, asking if the women who can meet those standards will continue to have the opportunity to serve in combat roles.

“Yes, exactly the way that you caveated it,” Mr. Hegseth said. “Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles, given the standards remain high.”

He said one of the first things he will do at the Pentagon is order a review of combat role standards to ensure “readiness and meritocracy is front and center.”

Ms. Ernst’s final question was if he would appoint a senior official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response. She and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Democrat, secured changes to the uniform code of military justice that “will demand time and attention from the Pentagon.”

Mr. Hegseth pledged to appoint someone to such a role.

Ms. Ernst ended her questioning without saying whether she would support Mr. Hegseth, but she seemed pleased with his responses.

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