Pete Hegseth is Donald Trump’s secretary of defense, overcoming a bruising confirmation battle that wasn’t settled until Vice President JD Vance broke a tie vote in the Senate late Friday night.
It was only the second time a vice president has ever had to break a tie on a cabinet nomination.
Hegseth’s bid to lead the Pentagon was uncertain from the beginning until the end, with Trump and Republicans only getting their answer on his confirmation when Sen. Thom Tillis said — after the vote had already begun at 9 p.m. — that he would support Hegseth.
But the final vote count may give the new president and his allies on Capitol Hill some pause: Three Republican senators voted against Hegseth, including former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who joined Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins in opposition.
McConnell, just weeks removed from his job as the GOP leader, forced Vance to break the 50-50 tie in the Senate — and showed no emotion about joining the conference’s more expected dissenting votes.
Earlier in the day, Trump had questioned what exactly McConnell planned to do, suggesting that the Kentucky Republican may be opposed.
“Is Mitch a ‘no’ vote? How ’bout Mitch?” Trump asked reporters.
After casting a “no” vote, McConnell explained himself.
“The most consequential cabinet official in any administration is the secretary of defense,” McConnell said in statement after the vote, enumerating a number of challenges the incoming Pentagon boss will face, including China, Russia, North Korea, an annual budget of $1 trillion and partnerships around the world.
“Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test,” McConnell said, continuing that he still wishes the new secretary of defense “great success.”
As for the other senators, everyone but Tillis was accounted for. Collins and Murkowski announced on Thursday that they would oppose Hegseth, but Tillis told reporters he was looking for corroborating evidence surrounding allegations that he had previously exhibited violent behavior and had abused alcohol, as alleged by Hegseth’s former sister-in-law.
On Friday, Tillis’ vote was still unknown. He reportedly requested additional information from Hegseth. The inquiries reportedly made the Trump White House nervous but were ultimately uncalled for.
In the end, Tillis said he conducted his own “due diligence” and voted for Trump’s nominee, explaining on social media that his position has always been that if a nominee is “reported favorably out of the relevant committees, I would support their confirmation on the Senate floor absent new material information about their qualifications.”
“I conducted my own due diligence, including asking tough questions of Pete and I appreciated his candor and openness in answering them,” Tillis wrote.
Hegseth has been accused of having a history of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and alleged mismanagement of two veteran organizations that he previously ran. He has denied all wrongdoing but said he would stop drinking if confirmed.
In the final week before the vote, senators reviewed a signed affidavit from Danielle Hegseth, his former sister-in-law, raising allegations that Hegseth had an abusive relationship with his ex-wife.
Hegseth was in the Senate for his confirmation vote, watching the vote in a room just off the Senate floor. He was accompanied by his family and White House staff.
Throughout his confirmation process, Hegseth received support from most of his party, including the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker. The Mississippi Republican — and Hegseth, for that matter, — chalked up many of the allegations against the nominee as an “anonymous” smear campaign in the “liberal media.” Sen. Markwayne Mullin also served as one of Hegseth’s biggest advocates in the Senate.
Hegseth didn’t meet with any Democrat on the committee before his confirmation hearing other than Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member. The Senate Armed Services Committee passed his nomination on a strict party-line vote, the first in the past four administrations, after a bruising hearing. Democrats claimed Hegseth’s FBI vetting was insufficient.
The Senate has only once rejected a president’s nomination for a secretary of defense: In 1990, President George H.W. Bush’s nominee, John Tower, lost his confirmation vote amid allegations that he was a womanizer and a drunk.
“Have I ever drunk to excess? Yes,” Tower told The New York Times then. “Am I alcohol-dependent? No. Have I always been a good boy? Of course not. But I’ve never done anything disqualifying. That’s the point.”
Decades later, Hegseth’s nomination succeeded despite similar allegations, but in a very different political climate.
Wicker had the final word on the Senate floor before the vote, urging his colleagues to back for Hegseth for one simple reason: Donald Trump won.
“He’s the president’s choice, and we owe it to this commander in chief to put him in this position unless he’s not qualified for the office,” Wicker said. “This president, who has this mandate, is entitled to this remarkable young man for his secretary of defense.”
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John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.