With Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote, the Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth to be the next secretary of defense on Friday night following a tumultuous advice-and-consent process that featured allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, and financial mismanagement.
The GOP-controlled Senate was deadlocked 50–50 in the vote after all Democratic senators and Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted not to confirm Hegseth. Vance broke the tie, making Hegseth the third Trump appointee to be confirmed so far.
Vance is the second vice president to issue a tie-breaking vote to confirm a cabinet nominee; the first was former vice president Mike Pence, who cleared Betsy DeVos’s confirmation for education secretary in 2017.
Hegseth cleared a key procedural hurdle Thursday without the support of Murkowski or Collins after passing through the Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday along party lines.
A former Fox News host, Hegseth had a distinguished military career with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has degrees from Harvard and Princeton and worked in veterans’ advocacy before becoming a television personality.
On his way to confirmation, Hegseth faced allegations of sexual misconduct, including one that resulted in a confidential settlement with a woman who said he sexually assaulted her at a hotel during a Republican event. His former sister-in-law submitted an affidavit claiming Hegseth had an alcohol problem and abused his ex-wife, claims that Hegseth and his ex-wife have denied.
Hegseth has also been accused of excessive drinking and financial mismanagement when he ran different veterans’ groups. Likewise, former Fox News employees alleged that Hegseth drank too much during his time at the network, claims that a number of his former colleagues publicly rebuked.
Numerous colleagues in veterans’ advocacy, the military, and Fox News have publicly supported Hegseth’s nomination to run the Pentagon. Hegseth has asserted that the negative stories about him are part of a media-driven smear campaign based on false claims from anonymous sources. Without acknowledging wrongdoing, Hegseth has said he is a changed man because of his current wife, Jennifer, and his relationship with Jesus Christ.
As defense secretary, Hegseth is promising to prioritize the rank-and-file war fighter and excise progressive ideology from the armed forces. Hegseth also vowed to improve readiness standards for all troops regardless of sex when Democrats pressed him during his confirmation hearing about past statements suggesting that women should not be in combat roles.
Senate Republicans intend to confirm President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees as quickly as possible to help his administration get off to a running start. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were easily confirmed earlier this week.