The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the new secretary of defense in a late-night session on Jan. 24 that came down to a tie-breaking decision from Vice President JD Vance after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted no.
President Donald Trump’s nominee initially deadlocked in a 50-50 vote, capping off a contentious confirmation process in which Hegseth faced questions about his views on women serving in combat, as well as allegations of alcoholism, sexual assault, and financial mismanagement at two veteran nonprofit organizations.
The vice president is the president of the Senate and has the sole power to cast a tie-breaking vote when necessary.
It was only the second such tie-breaking vote in the history of cabinet secretary confirmations, after Betsy DeVos’s confirmation for secretary of education at the start of the first Trump administration in 2017.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) broke ranks with their fellow Republicans to oppose Hegseth’s confirmation. They had signaled their opposition ahead of the hearing late on Jan. 24.
McConnell issued a statement after his vote explaining why he opposed the nomination.
“The most consequential cabinet official in any Administration is the Secretary of Defense. In the face of the gravest threats to U.S. national security interests since World War II, this position is even more important today,” the Kentucky Republican wrote.
McConnell said the United States faces threats from multiple adversaries, including Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
“In public comments and testimony before the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Hegseth did not reckon with this reality,” he wrote.
Trump celebrated Hegseth’s confirmation, telling reporters in Los Angeles, “We’re very happy about that, we appreciate everyone’s vote.”
When asked for a reaction to McConnell’s no vote, Trump replied that he didn’t know about the development.
“I just heard that we won. Winning is what matters, right?” he said.
In the minutes before the vote, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) urged his colleagues to vote against the nomination, while Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) made the opposite case, noting that Hegseth had grappled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Hegseth, 44, served in the National Guard from 2002 to 2021. He served as an infantry officer and saw combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring from service at the rank of major.
Throughout the confirmation process, Hegseth has said his focus will be on expanding the warrior ethos of the U.S. military.
“[Trump], like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, warfighting, accountability, and readiness,” Hegseth said in his opening remarks at his Jan. 14 confirmation hearing.
Hegseth has also said he seeks to reduce the military’s focus on contentious political debates, which he feels detract from time spent on training in practical warfighting skills.
While Hegseth has said he wants the military to remain “patriotically apolitical and stridently constitutional,” some of his detractors have raised concerns that he would go after his perceived political enemies. Some senators, including Murkowski, had also raised concerns that women in the military might not have Hegseth’s full support.
Hegseth has offered mixed comments about women serving in combat roles. In a November interview on the “Shawn Ryan Show,” Hegseth said, “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.”
At other points, he has said he’s concerned about military leaders lowering standards just to get women to fill more combat roles, including infantry, artillery, and special operations positions.
Robert Salesses has served as the acting secretary of defense while Hegseth’s nomination has wound its way through the Senate.
