Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for defense secretary, faces significant personal and professional hurdles that would derail any other choice to lead the U.S. military, former chief Leon Panetta said.

Panetta, who led the Defense Department under President Obama from mid-2011 to early 2013, emphasized that the new defense secretary must have both the “personal attributes” and leadership experience needed to lead an agency with nearly three million employees .

“He has problems on both fronts,” Panetta said Newsweekciting reports that Hegseth was forced out of previous positions because of financial mismanagement and was repeatedly drunk while serving as president of Concerned Veterans for America. “It’s hard to discipline the military when you can’t discipline yourself.”

Hegseth, 44, faces an uphill battle for confirmation after revelations that he reached a settlement in 2017 with a woman who accused him of rape and a 2018 email from his mother claiming He was accused of abusing women for years.

Panetta, 86, said senators must dutifully consider whether Hegseth has the appropriate virtues and characteristics to lead the world’s greatest military power if the Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News host ultimately decides not to retire.

“It is very important that the Senate roll up its sleeves and take a close look at it,” Panetta said Tuesday. “You are talking about a position where you have to be able to manage three million people: two million in uniform and one million civilians. So you need to have at least some management experience. “You have to really understand what role the military plays and how it should be used.”

Panetta acknowledged Hegseth’s military background but questioned whether the veteran, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, understood the scope of the role, including the task of procuring weapons systems or overseeing the Defense Department’s recruiting efforts.

The latter could be particularly difficult for Hegseth, a “guy who doesn’t support women in the military,” according to Panetta, who in 2013 lifted the Pentagon’s ban on women serving in ground combat units.

“The bottom line is that there are a lot of questions that the Senate needs to pay attention to when it comes to deciding whether he is the right person for the job,” Panetta said.

Military leaders, including the defense secretary, should serve as role models for the men and women they supervise, Panetta said.

“You have to reflect the important character traits that make you a role model for others who put their lives on the line for this country,” he said. “I don’t know what his problems are about, but he has a history of alcohol problems and also a history of possible sexual abuse.”

These “serious issues” need to be thoroughly examined during Hegseth’s confirmation hearings, Panetta said.

“To determine exactly what it is about,” he continued. “And has he taken steps to deal with these issues? And is it possible for him to move beyond that kind of baggage to be someone who not only leads our military, but makes damn sure he does that?” Does it get Congress to approve a strong defense budget? There are a lot of issues involved.”

Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said his client has no intention of withdrawing from the nomination process.

“The idea of ​​removing a candidate based on anonymous, false complaints pretty much violates our constitutional principles of due process,” Parlatore said told Newsweek. “Mr. Hegseth looks forward to the FBI background check and a proper investigation that will quickly refute these allegations. He’s very confident about that.”

Trump’s transition team did not return calls seeking comment on Hegseth’s future.

Wall Street magazine reported announced late Tuesday that Trump was considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a possible replacement because Hegseth’s candidacy might not withstand further scrutiny.

According to CNN, Trump is also considering Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-TN, as possible options.

Hegseth’s mother, meanwhile, appeared on Fox News early Wednesday and insisted that her son had overcome the problems she described in a 2018 email from The new York Just blow up him as an “abuser” of women. She also acknowledged that he had become a distraction for Trump.

“To a certain extent, but I think it can be overcome,” Penelope Hegseth said. “I think people need to listen to him and get to know him – not the Pete of seven years ago, but the Pete of today.”

Hegseth also declined to say whether she will testify at her son’s confirmation hearings following the release of her email, which she sent amid Pete’s split from his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, who filed for divorce after he married Jennifer Smokes, an executive producer at Fox News, had impregnated her.

“You are an abuser of women – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for a man who belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and exploits women for his own power and ego,” Penelope Hegseth wrote in the message. “You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother it pains me and embarrasses me to say it, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

Panetta said he was also alarmed by reports that Hegseth was expelled from two nonprofit advocacy groups, Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America, due to allegations of misconduct, including rampant alcohol abuse and sexual pursuit of female employees.

Hegseth also allegedly drunkenly shouted “Kill all Muslims” during an official Concerned Veterans for America tour in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in 2015. The New Yorker reported.

“It’s hard as a secretary to send our young men and women into harm’s way if you don’t instill both strong character and a strong model of leadership in those you send to war,” Panetta said. “It’s really important for the Senate to think long and hard about someone who has had these problems and really understand whether they’ve overcome them or whether they still have the same problems. This is crucial in deciding whether it will be approved or not.”