Republicans appear poised to confirm Trump’s controversial nominee to lead the government’s largest and most complex agency

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, was questioned about ASEAN during a heated Senate confirmation and struggled with his response.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth put Pete Hegseth’s foreign policy chops to the test during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday as President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon. The Illinois

Tammy Duckworth asked the nominee for factual details about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including its membership and the U.S.'s relationship with member countries. Hegseth responded that he was unable to name the exact members of ASEAN,

Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, was taking questions from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) when she challenged him to share his knowledge about even just one member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

During his confirmation hearing, Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee couldn’t name a single member of the Southeast Asian bloc.

In a heated Senate confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, Sen. Tammy Duckworth grilled the proposed defense secretary over the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, asking him if he could name one member and how many countries were in the bloc.

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, born in Bangkok to a Thai mother and an American father, posed the question to Pete Hegseth.

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Tammy Duckworth grilled the proposed defense secretary ... ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Hegseth responded at the heated Senate confirmation hearing that he couldn’t tell Duckworth the exact number of ASEAN nations, but that “I know we have allies in South Korea and Japan in AUKUS (a pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.) with Australia.”