CONFIRMATION CLASS: Donald Trump’s controversial pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, appeared closer to winning confirmation after Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said she would vote for him following yesterday’s hearing before the Senate Amed Services Committee.

  Ernst’s approval had been in doubt because she’s a veteran of the military in which Hegseth has said women have no place in combat, and she’s been the victim of sexual while Hegseth has been accused of committing that same offense. Ernst was the target of political threats when she initially expressed doubts about Hegseth leading the Pentagon, but in yesterday’s hearing she stuck to the party line.

  Republicans dodged the question of whether a former Fox News host is qualified to run an organization with 3.4 million employees and a nearly trillion dollar budget.

  Decrying the diversity and equity initiatives in the defense Department, Hegseth said, “Returning the Pentagon back to warfighting, that’s it, that’s my job.” 

  Hegseth opened his appearance yesterday with praise for God and a patriotic speech about having served in the military. Democratic senators pounded him with questions about his history of drunkenness, sexual impropriety and assault, and mismanaging the finances of two veterans’ organizations. He dismissed it all as “anonymous smears.”  He refused to say whether an accusation of sexual assault, excessive drinking or marital infidelity should disqualify someone from heading the Pentagon.

  Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine pressed Hegseth about the allegation that he raped a woman in 2017 while he was married to his second wife and two months after his girlfriend, now his third wife, had given birth to his child. Hegseth said, “I have failed in things in my life, and thankfully I’m redeemed by my lord and savior Jesus.” 

THE FIRE LINE: Extreme fire warnings are back in effect today for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties in California, putting more than six million people under threat.  Winds could be up to 70 mph today.

  As the death toll has risen to 25, responders are searching the ruins for more bodies. Thirty-seven people are still reported missing.

  Firefighters spent yesterday continuing to build containment lines and putting out spot fires in the Palisades and Eaton fires. The fires are expected to be the costliest in US history, having burned an estimated 12,000 structures, including  homes and businesses.

  The Palisades fire has burned more than 23,700 acres and is 18 percent contained. The Eaton fire in the Altadena area, has charred just more than 14,100 acres and was 35% contained, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

   Among the losses in the fires, the eight Olympic medals swimmer Gary Hall Jr. won in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Games that burned along with his home in the Palisades fire.  The International Olympic Committee says it will replace the  medals.

FLAG DAY: House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered that flags over the US Capitol be raised to their full height on Inauguration Day, pausing a 30-day flag-lowering order following the death of former President Jimmy Carter. The flag has already be raised to the top of the pole at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

PRESIDENTIAL ARREST: While the US Justice Department has backed away from prosecutions of Donald Trump, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested for questioning about his sudden and brief declaration of martial law  last month.

  Yoon was arrested this morning at his official residence after it was surrounded by hundreds of officers. He was taken away in a motorcade of security. 

  This is the first time a sitting president in South Korea has been arrested. Yoon is wanted for questioning about multiple issues, including whether he was the leader of an insurrection, a crime punishable in South Korea by life imprisonment or even death.

THE SPIN RACK: President Joe Biden is delivering a prime time farewell address to the nation tonight. — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, and Pam Bondi, his choice for Attorney General, are set to appear for confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill today. — Britain’s Princess Kate announced that she is in remission from cancer and returning to royal duties. She has never said what kind of cancer she had, although it required abdominal surgery. — Former First Lady Michelle Obama announced that she will not attend the second inauguration of Donald Trump. She didn’t say why. — There’s been a surge of Americans both male and female getting sterilization procedures following the banning of abortion in many states, according to research and health-care providers.  — The House yesterday passed a law banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports in elementary school through college. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate. — The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau sued Capital One charging that the bank penny by penny failed to pay more than $2 billion in interest to its customers. — The Starbucks coffee chain says visitors in the future will have to buy something if they want to hang out or use the bathroom. The chain is trying to reverse sluggish sales and some stores have a problem with homeless people and panhandlers working the room.

BELOW THE FOLD: While wearing a crucifix from her ear during a heated House hearing yesterday, South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace asked Jasmine Crockett of Texas whether she wants to “take it outside,” because that’s what Jesus would do.

-30-