WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the nation’s defense secretary Friday in a dramatic late-night vote, swatting back questions about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon amid allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.
Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience and behavior as Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role atop the U.S. military. But the Republican-led Senate was determined to confirm Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran who has vowed to bring a “warrior culture” to the Pentagon, rounding out President Donald Trump’s top national security Cabinet officials.
Vice President JD Vance was on hand to cast a tie-breaking vote, unusual in the Senate for Cabinet nominees, who typically win wider support. Hegseth himself was at the Capitol with his family.
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.”
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.
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.
“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.
Hegseth himself was working the phones late Friday to shore up his support, his confirmation at stake.
“He’s a good man,” Trump said of Hegseth while departing the White House to visit disaster-hit North Carolina and Los Angeles. “I hope he makes it.”
Trump leveled criticism of Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who announced they would vote against Hegseth. And Tump raised fresh questions about Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., saying, “And of course Mitch is always a no vote, I guess. Is Mitch a no vote?”
In the end all three voted against Hegseth, as tensions soared late Friday at the Capitol.
McConnell, the former GOP leader in the Senate, had not declared his vote, but signaled skepticism in an earlier speech when he declared he would confirm nominees to senior national security roles “whose record and experience will make them immediate assets, not liabilities.” He voted against.
It takes a simple majority to confirm Hegseth, and Republicans, with a 53-47 majority in the Senate, could only lose one more objection.
One Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, sent the Senate swirling as he raised questions and was provided information and answers, said a person familiar with the situation Thursday and granted anonymity to discuss it.
But Tillis ultimately voted to confirm Hegseth who he said “has a unique perspective” and is passionate about modernizing the military. He said he spoke to Hegseth for “nearly two hour” about his concerns.
Democrats, as the minority party, have helped confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in bipartisan votes to Trump’s national security team within days of his return to the White House.
But Democrats gravely opposed to Hegseth have little power to stop him, and instead have resorted to dragging out the process.
Hours before the vote, Democrat after Democrat took to the Senate floor to object.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said during the debate there are few Trump nominees as “dangerously and woefully unqualified as Hegseth.”
Hegseth faces allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, though he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid $50,000 to the woman.
More recently, Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said in an affidavit that he was abusive to his second wife to the point that she feared for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegation, and in divorce proceedings, neither Hegseth nor the woman claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.
During a fiery confirmation hearing, Hegseth dismissed allegations of wrongdoing one by one, and vowed to bring “warrior culture” to the top Pentagon post.
Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job if confirmed.
But Republican senators facing an intensive pressure campaign by Trump allies to support Hegseth have stood by his nomination, echoing his claims of a “smear” campaign against him.
A Princeton and Harvard graduate, Hegseth represents a newer generation of veterans who came of age in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He went on to a career at Fox News as the host of a weekend show, and was unknown to many on Capitol Hill until Trump tapped him for the top Defense job.
Hegseth’s comments that women should have no role in military combat drew particular concern on Capitol Hill, including from lawmakers who themselves served. He has since tempered those views as he met with senators during the confirmation process.
Murkowski said in a lengthy statement ahead of a test vote on Hegseth that his behaviors “starkly contrast” with what is expected of the military.
“I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join,” Murkowski wrote on social media.
Collins said that after a lengthy discussion with Hegseth, “I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”
But one prominent Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a veteran and sexual assault survivor, came under harsh criticism for her skepticism toward Hegseth and eventually announced she would back him.
Hegseth would lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.
In exercising its advise and consent role over Trump’s nominees, the Senate is also trying to stave off his suggestion that the GOP leaders simply do away with the confirmation process altogether, and allow him to appoint his Cabinet choices when the Congress is on recess.
Trump raised the idea of so-called “recess appointments” during a private White House meeting with Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a step many senators are trying to avoid.
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Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.