In a dramatic late-night session, the US Senate has approved the nomination of Pete Hegseth as defense secretary who vows to bring a “warrior culture” to the Pentagon despite questions over qualifications and allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.
Mr. Hegseth needed a simple majority in the 100 person Senate to be confirmed as Defence Secretary and with Republicans holding the chamber 53-47, a vote along party lines would have seen Hegseth confirmed.
Three Republican senators broke with their party however, and perhaps more consequentially broke with President Donald Trump.
Those senators voting no were Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Susan Collins from Maine and Mitch McConnell from Kentucky.
That left the vote 50-50, and with Senate rules calling for the Vice President to break the tie JD Vance was called in to confirmed the Trump appointee.
This is only the second time in history that a vice president has broken a tie for a Cabinet nominee. The other was Mike Pence, who did so in 2017 for Betsy DeVos to head the education department.
Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience and behavior as Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role leading the US military. But the Republican-led Senate was determined to confirm Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran, to deliver President Donald Trump’s and round out his top national security Cabinet officials.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune opened Friday’s session saying that Hegseth, as a veteran of the Army National Guard who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, “will bring a warrior’s perspective” to the top military job.
“Gone will be the days of woke distractions,” Thune said, referring to the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives being slashed across the federal government. “The Pentagon’s focus will be on war fighting.”
The Senate’s ability to confirm Hegseth despite a grave series of allegations against him provided a measure of Trump’s political power and ability to get what he wants from the GOP-led Congress, and of the potency of the culture wars to fuel his agenda at the White House.
Next week senators will be facing Trump’s other outside Cabinet choices including particularly Kash Patel, a Trump ally who has published an enemies list, as the FBI director; Tulsi Gabbard as director of the office of national intelligence; and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the anti-vaccine advocate at Health and Human Services.
“Is Pete Hegseth truly the best we have to offer?” said Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urging his colleagues to think seriously about their vote.
Hegseth himself was working the phones late Friday to shore up his support, his confirmation at stake.
“He’s a good man,” Trump said of Hegseth while departing the White House to visit disaster-hit North Carolina and Los Angeles. “I hope he makes it.”
New Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pumps his fist after a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, (Photo: Andrew Harnik/ Getty Images)Democrats, as the minority party, have helped confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in bipartisan votes to Trump’s national security team within days of his return to the White House.
But Democrats gravely opposed to Hegseth had little power to stop him, and instead resorted to dragging out the process.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said during the debate there are few Trump nominees as “dangerously and woefully unqualified as Hegseth.”
Hegseth faces allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, though he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid US$50,000 to the woman.
More recently, Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said in an affidavit that he was abusive to his second wife to the point that she feared for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegation, and in divorce proceedings, neither Hegseth nor the woman claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.
During a fiery confirmation hearing, Hegseth dismissed allegations of wrongdoing one by one, and vowed to bring “warrior culture” to the top Pentagon post.
Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job.
But Republican senators facing an intensive pressure campaign by Trump allies to support Hegseth have stood by his nomination, echoing his claims of a “smear” campaign against him.
A Princeton and Harvard graduate, Hegseth represents a newer generation of veterans who came of age in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He went on to a career at Fox News as the host of a weekend show, and was unknown to many on Capitol Hill until Trump tapped him for the top Defense job.
Hegseth’s comments that women should have no role in military combat drew particular concern on Capitol Hill, including from lawmakers who themselves served. He has since tempered those views as he met with senators during the confirmation process.
Murkowski said in a lengthy statement ahead of a test vote on Hegseth that his behaviors “starkly contrast” with what is expected of the military.
“I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join,” Murkowski wrote on social media.
Collins said that after a lengthy discussion with Hegseth, “I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”
But one prominent Republican, Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a combat veteran and sexual assault survivor, came under harsh criticism for her skepticism toward Hegseth and eventually announced she would back him.
“It’d sure be helpful if Republicans stood together to confirm Trump’s cabinet,” fellow GOP Senator Mike Lee of Utah posted online ahead of Friday’s voting.
Hegseth would lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.
Hours before the Senate was expected to vote on Hegseth’s nomination, Democrat after Democrat took to the floor to list the various reasons why they believed he was uniquely unqualified to lead the sprawling defense department.
“What is clear to me at the end of this process is that Mr. Hegseth does not check any of the boxes,” said Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy combat pilot who flew missions during Operation Desert Storm.
In exercising its advise and consent role over Trump’s nominees, the Senate is also trying to stave off his suggestion that the GOP leaders simply do away with the confirmation process altogether, and allow him to appoint his Cabinet choices when the Congress is on recess.
Trump raised the idea of so-called “recess appointments” during a private White House meeting with Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson. But that is an extreme, and potentially difficult, step that some GOP senators want but several other senators on both sides of the aisle are trying to avoid.
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