Speaker 1: President Trump is slashing and burning, and in the crosshairs right now, diversity, equity, and inclusion, a program meant to ensure that America's military represents all of America. And Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois exemplifies a lot of what President Trump and his cabinet are aggressively threatening. She is Army strong, a disabled veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, she's the daughter of an immigrant, and she's a woman. And she has a lot to say about President Trump and how he's already changing the face of our government and our military. Senator Duckworth, who also serves on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, joins me right now. Good to see you, Senator. I want to start off, if you don't mind, 40 years of service, first woman to ever head a military branch, Trump fires Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan day one. The Pentagon is about to lead, be led rather, by Pete Hegseth, who still will not come out and say women should fight in combat. What does a Trump-Hegseth Pentagon look like for women?

Speaker 2: Well, it looks like a very hostile workplace for women if Pete Hegseth and Trump remain in charge. And remember that Pete Hegseth has a history of very bad workplace behavior himself, not just about setting the workplace for others. It becomes a place where people are afraid to do their jobs. And also, you should remember that Pete Hegseth, in his nomination hearing, stated that as soon as he gets there, he's going to start firing generals and people that are in charge. This is especially scary, because in the same nomination hearing, he said that he was going to rely on people smarter than him to help him run the Pentagon, since he's so lacking in experience. So he doesn't have the experience to run the Pentagon, doesn't know how to do it, and he's going to fire all the top people who know what they're doing. And they're going to start this manhunt or womanhunt to really eliminate the folks who bring the greatest number of diversity, and especially women who have served in combat out of the Pentagon. This is a scary time for our nation's national security.

Speaker 1: I want to get to what you and other Democrats are going to do about it in just a second, but apparently we just got word that Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski will not vote to confirm Pete Hegseth. Do you think this could influence other Republicans to join her, Senator?

Speaker 2: I really hope so, that other Republicans will remember their oath of office, which is to defend the Constitution of the United States, not to kiss Donald Trump's manga boots. That is the decision that they have to make right now. Are they going to put the well-being of this country ahead of their loyalty to Donald Trump? Thank you, Lisa Murkowski, for having the courage of your conviction. If you read her statement, she's very clear about the moral courage, the type of person it takes to lead the 3,000 men and women who serve in our nation's military in both uniform and personnel, out of uniform. They deserve the very best. When we ask our men and women to go into combat, we ask them to potentially give up their lives. Those people should not be led by someone of low moral character, which is where Mr. Hegseth has demonstrated throughout his professional career. Remember, these allegations include being drunk and having to be carried out of strip clubs while wearing the uniform of this great nation. I don't want that kind of person running the Pentagon.

Speaker 1: I did have a chance to talk to him in person, Senator, last week. He said that Trump has had his back this entire time, and that he believes he will get the votes to take it over the finish line. But now with this news of Murkowski, and the question mark remains, will other Republicans get on board, clearly that could change things. But if indeed he does get through, and he leads DOD, and he has voiced certain opinions about women in particular, what are you and other Democrats going to do about his leadership?

Speaker 2: Well, we have to do everything we can to stop him from taking the most egregious actions. For example, he could, for example, order stopping recruiting women and persons, minorities, into the military. I hope that does not happen. He could discriminate against people. He could take potentially illegal actions to retaliate against people who are, for example, equal opportunity officers, people who maybe are not. We have a lot of green card holders who are in our military. There were some in my Army unit, in fact, who served this nation even before they become citizens, who are willing to die for this nation even before they are granted citizenship. So we're going to have to be very vigilant on what actions he takes. And remember that during his confirmation hearing, Mr. Hexeth was unable to answer this very simple question from Senator Slotkin, which was, if Donald Trump ordered you to shoot peaceful protesters in the legs, would you stand up to him and oppose such an unlawful order? He was unable to answer that question. We will be watching him very closely if he does get confirmed.

Speaker 1: And while I have you, and I'm sure you will, Senator, while I have you, Trump says he's sending additional troops to the southern border right now. We haven't seemed to be able to get any information on exactly what our military will be doing. What do you think the role will be? And should our military be used in this way?

Speaker 2: Well, I don't think our military should be used in this way. And the only role that they can be doing would be the support role, which is what happened the last time Trump tried to do this. They ended up, you know, they can't be on foot patrol. They cannot be, you know, there's the posse comitatus law. They're prohibited from doing the policing functions. And so they could be cooks. They can fix vehicles. I mean, basically, this would be a mismanagement of our military at a time when we have real adversaries around the world and our troops should be resetting and preparing to go fight folks who are America's adversaries and leave the Border Patrol to the Border Patrol agents. Listen, I supported the bipartisan border deal that would have doubled the number of Border Patrol agents. If we want to secure the border, then let's do that. Let's work on fixing comprehensive immigration reform. Let's work on hiring more Border Patrol agents, enabling them to do their jobs. But sending our troops to go do a job that they're not allowed to do legally and basically making them leave their homes to go cool their heels on the border doesn't really help anybody other than Donald Trump with his mock-up base because he's just putting on a reality show for them.

Speaker 1: Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, appreciate your time, Senator.

Speaker 2: Thank you.