Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth as US secretary of defense – despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other concerns about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon.
Three Republican senators – Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski – voted against Hegseth, resulting in a 50-50 tie that required a sitting vice president to cast the deciding vote for a cabinet nominee for only the second time ever.
Trump talked up Hegseth moments before Vance cast the tiebreaking vote to confirm him.
“We have a great secretary of defense and we’re very happy,” Trump said as he boarded Air Force One after surveying fire devastation in California. He said he didn’t care that McConnell voted against confirming him because the “important thing is winning.”
The Senate’s ability to confirm Hegseth despite a grave series of allegations against him will provide 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.
This is the second time a vice president has had to break a tie on a Cabinet nominee. Former Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary in Trump’s first term. The Senate historian said at the time that Pence’s vote was the first by a vice president to break a 50-50 tie on a Cabinet nomination.
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.
‘A warrior’s perspective’
“Is Pete Hegseth truly the best we have to offer?” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urging his colleagues to think seriously about their vote. All Democrats opposed the nominee.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune said 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.”
