Vice President JD Vance on Friday delivered his first tie-breaking vote in the senate, confirming Pete Hegseth, a Trump confidant and Iraq veteran, as defense secretary after a contentious battle over his qualifications.
Democrats and three Republicans questioned Hegseth’s readiness to lead the Pentagon, as the US Army National Guard veteran and former “Fox & Friends” host lacks experience in the defense industry or running large organizations that have characterized past defense secretaries.
Hegseth was barely confirmed on Friday night after a 50-50 Senate vote, which required a tie-breaking vote by Vance. Republican Senators Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, Susan Collins from Maine, and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska voted against Hegseth. All Democratic senators voted no.
The confirmation was only the second time in US history that the Vice President has been required to break a tie for a cabinet appointment. The first was Betsy DeVos’ 2017 confirmation as secretary of education during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Hegseth’s confirmation is one of the closest ever for the position, which has often seen strong bipartisan support. For comparison, Lloyd Austin, a retired Army general tapped by former President Joe Biden, received 93 votes in 2021. In addition to Hegseth, one of the other closest votes occurred in 2013, when the Senate confirmed former President Barack Obama’s pick, Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator and Vietnam combat veteran, by 58-41.
Hegseth’s nail-bitter confirmation in the GOP-led Senate is a victory for Trump’s unconventional Cabinet nominations. Since Trump announced his pick in November, Hegseth’s personal history, controversial comments on culture war topics, and qualifications for the position have all been under fire.
At the Fox News host’s confirmation hearing in January, he faced intense questioning, walking back previous comments he made against women serving in combat roles and promising to bring a warrior ethos back to the Pentagon.
He has also received support from many Republicans and veterans. Tim Kennedy, a retired Army Green Beret and mixed martial artist, has repeatedly advocated for Hegseth’s candidacy, calling him “an agent of change.” On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said that Hegseth would bring “a warrior’s perspective to the role of defense secretary and will provide much-needed fresh air at the Pentagon.”
Hegseth’s confirmation may bring radical changes to the Pentagon that had been resisted in Trump’s first term. It was Hegseth who then advised Trump to pardon troops accused or convicted of war crimes over the objections of top Pentagon leaders who worried this would erode the discipline and order in their ranks.
By rhetoric and background, Hegseth has been seen by lawmakers and officials as an unconventional pick.
Hegseth, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was among a group of National Guard members who had their orders to secure then President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration revoked after the January 6 insurrection due to controversy over his tattoo of a Jerusalem cross; he also has a tattoo of a Christian motto that dates to the Crusades and has been adopted by the alt-right.
Hegseth has also received backlash over his views of women serving in combat roles. During a podcast episode after Trump’s reelection, Hegseth said, “I’m straight-up just saying we should not have women in combat roles,” arguing it hurt the military’s readiness. At his confirmation hearing in January, he took a different tone.
“Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles, given the standards remain high, and we’ll have a review to ensure the standards have not been eroded in any one of these cases,” Hegseth said, noting that if he’s confirmed, he’ll initiate a review of gender-neutral standards.
He has also been grilled about his drinking, beliefs against diversity, equity, and inclusion, and his personal history. During a media blitz to shore up his struggling candidacy, he vowed “there won’t be a drop of alcohol on my lips” while he’s the SECDEF.
In November, sexual assault allegations against Hegseth from an incident in 2017 were made public. At the time, Hegseth told police that the encounter was consensual and denied any wrongdoing; he was never criminally charged. In November, he told reporters that the matter was fully investigated and he’d been cleared.
Hegseth, an avowed opponent of the Defense Department’s efforts to diversify its disproportionately white workforce, suggests major changes may be in store beyond the removal of any DEI or so-called “woke” policies.
His selection by Trump is also a sign the White House is focused on purging the military’s top ranks of purported “woke generals,” along the lines of the “warrior board” reviews first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
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