Vice President JD Vance, from left, swears in Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense as his wife Jennifer Rauchet holds the Bible and Hegseth’s children watch in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (Rod Lamkey/AP)
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday night confirmed Pete Hegseth as defense secretary by the narrowest of margins, elevating an Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News host to the top Pentagon job with the help of a rare tiebreaking vote by the vice president.
The 51-50 vote marked only the second time in modern history that a vice president had to be called to the Capitol to break a tie on a Cabinet nomination.
Vice President JD Vance’s vote to push Hegseth over the finish line highlighted the division over President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department and came amid claims this week by Hegseth’s ex-sister-in-law that he was abusive toward his second wife, frequently drank to excess and made derogatory statements about women and Muslims.
Republicans largely stuck by Hegseth despite those accusations, which were made in a sworn affidavit provided to lawmakers, while Democrats lined up in staunch opposition against him.
“I am ironclad in my assessment that… Mr. Hegseth is prepared to be the next secretary of the defense and that the allegations unfairly impugning his character do not pass scrutiny,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Mr. Hegseth has the confidence of the president. He has the backing of Senate Republicans.”
Not all Republicans agreed.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska broke with their party to vote against Hegseth’s nomination. Murkowski said she does not believe he has the qualifications to manage the Defense Department and argued his admitted infidelity and other lapses in judgment were “unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces.”
“These behaviors starkly contrast the values and discipline expected of service members,” she said. “Men and women in uniform are held accountable for such actions, and they deserve leaders who uphold these same standards.”
McConnell, who had voted Thursday to advance Hegseth’s nomination but ultimately voted against it, said Hegseth did not impress him.
“Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests,” he said in a statement. “Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test.”
Defense secretaries are typically confirmed with bipartisan support, including during Trump’s first term. Jim Mattis, a four-star Marine Corps general, was almost unanimously confirmed while Mark Esper, a former Army secretary, was confirmed in a 90-8 vote.
But Hegseth, 44, faced an uphill battle to win over the Senate as he was dogged for months by accusations of sexual assault and harassment, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement of two veterans organizations that he once led.
More allegations piled up this week as Hegseth’s former sister-in-law described instances of drunken and volatile behavior, including an incident in which Hegseth apparently became extremely drunk in a strip club while wearing his Minnesota National Guard uniform — a violation of military law.
Hegseth and his second ex-wife have denied the claims in the affidavit.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he requested sworn testimony from the ex-sister-in-law after learning the details that she provided to the FBI for its background check of Hegseth were omitted from the final briefing given to lawmakers.
Reed has called the FBI’s investigation “inadequate” and on Thursday said it was “unprecedented that the FBI has returned to my office two more times, as recently as last night, to provide additional information on the nominee.”
“We cannot risk installing a leader who may have a history that is exploitable by our adversaries,” he said. “Nor can we risk confirming a secretary of defense who has shown that he is incapable of being responsible, accountable and law-abiding 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as that job requires.”
Democrats have also repeatedly hammered Hegseth on his previous remarks opposing women in combat roles and dismissing the laws of war, his advocacy on behalf of troops who had been charged with war crimes and his unorthodox resume.
Hegseth is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard University and served in the Army National Guard for more than a decade, deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. He received two Bronze Stars and other commendations for his service and left the military at the rank of major in 2021.
In between deployments, Hegseth led two nonprofit advocacy groups — Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America — and joined Fox News, first as a contributor and then as a host.
“It is true that I don’t have a similar biography to defense secretaries of the last 30 years,” he said last week at his confirmation hearing. “But, as President Trump also told me, we’ve repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly ‘the right credentials’… and where has it gotten us?”
Hegseth has spun his lack of experience in the Defense Department as a positive, saying he will be a “change agent” who will focus on troops and warfighting rather than distractions such as diversity, equity and inclusivity efforts and climate change initiatives.
He admitted to falling short in his personal conduct but told senators that he is now a “changed man” and promised to abstain from drinking when he becomes the defense secretary. He rejected the allegations against him as a “coordinated smear campaign.”
In a break from custom, Hegseth did not meet with most Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee before his confirmation.
“He stiff-armed every one of us, except Jack Reed,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a member of the panel.
Hegseth has said scheduling issues got in the way.
His plans for the Pentagon include conducting a review of senior officers “based on meritocracy, standards, lethality and commitment to lawful orders they will be given” and the reinstatement, with back pay, of service members who were kicked out of the military for refusing to get the coronavirus vaccine.
He also said he will remove what he believes are quotas for women in combat roles and appears poised to rescind the Pentagon’s travel reimbursement policy for service members in need of abortions and other reproductive health care, contending federal funds should not be used for abortions.
Hegseth’s confirmation was at times considered a long shot but Republicans increasingly waved away much of the news reports about him as “unsubstantiated” falsehoods perpetuated by the “left-leaning media.”
By the end of the week, most Republicans were hailing Hegseth as a fresh face and a much-needed disrupter who will shake up the Defense Department’s bureaucracy and inspire the ranks.
“I like his age. I like his demeanor. I like the things he brings to our military,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. “He’s exciting and he will energize this military into the next decade.”
