The Senate Friday night confirmed Pete Hegseth as President Trump’s Defense secretary, with the help of a tie-breaking vote from Vice President J.D. Vance.
According to the Hill, there were concerns earlier Friday that Hegseth’s nomination could be torpedoed at the last minute by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), both of whom voted to advance him on Thursday.
McConnell ended up voting “no” on Pete Hegseth’s nomination, while Tillis voted in favor of Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon.
“Once Pete Hegseth’s nomination was sent to the floor by my colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I conducted my own due diligence, including asking tough questions of Pete and I appreciated his candor and openness in answering them,” Tillis said in a statement prior to the vote.
Pete has a unique perspective as a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is unquestionably passionate about modernizing our military and supporting the brave patriots like himself who serve our nation. I will support his confirmation and look forward to working with him to rebuild our military and advance President Trump’s peace through strength agenda.
With GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) both voting no, it took Vance’s tie-breaking (51-50) vote to confirm Hegseth.
“Congratulations to Pete Hegseth. He will make a great Secretary of Defense!” President Trump posted on Truth Social.
According to the Hill, this was only the second time in history a vice president has cast a tie breaking vote to confirm a Cabinet nomination.
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