Senator Duckworth questioned defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth about his qualifications for the position at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

In part of her opening remarks, Sen. Duckworth said, "This hearing now seems to be a hearing about whether or not women are qualified to serve in combat. And not about whether or not you are qualified to be secretary of defense. And let me just say that the American people need a secretary of defense who's ready to lead on day one. You are not that person."

Previously, Hegseth said that the military “should not have women in combat roles.” Since those controversial statements, he has said women could have access to combat roles “given the standards remain high.”

Testing his preparedness, Sen. Duckworth went on to ask Hegseth if he could name three international security agreements the defense secretary would lead and sign. Hegseth could not name a single example. “You are not qualified, Mr. Hegseth,” Sen. Duckworth replied.

“You talked about the Indo-Pacific, […] can you name the importance of at least one of the nations in ASEAN and what type of agreement we have with at least one of those nations? And how many nations are in ASEAN,” Sen. Duckworth asked. Hegseth named South Korea, Japan, and Australia to which Sen. Duckworth replied, “None of those countries are in ASEAN. I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations.”

In her closing remarks, Sen. Duckworth said, “You have not earned your place as secretary of defense. You say you care about keeping our armed forces strong, and that you like our armed forces meritocracy. Then let’s not lower the standards for you. You, sir, are a no-go at this station.”

According to her official bio, “Senator Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq War Veteran, Purple Heart recipient and former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who was among the first handful of Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Duckworth served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2014. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 after representing Illinois’s Eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms.” In 2004, while deployed in Iraq, Duckworth’s helicopter was hit by an RPG and she unfortunately lost her legs and partial use of her right arm.