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.

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

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.

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.

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.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth questioned Pete Hegseth on his knowledge of ASEAN, asking him to name a member, describe the U.S. agreement with them, and state how many nations are in the bloc.

The 10-nation bloc, known as ASEAN, has been useful for the United States in countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. Many member nations have territorial disputes with China, which has become increasingly assertive in pressing those claims.

Senator Markwayne Mullin was grilled on CNN over remarks that lawmakers turn up to vote drunk as he tried to defend Pete Hegseth.