President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth will be the next secretary of defense, after he was confirmed late Friday by the U.S. Senate by the narrowest of margins.
Vice President J.D. Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie after three Republican senators — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — parted ways with the rest of the GOP to vote against Hegseth.
Every Democratic and independent senator also opposed Hegseth.
It was only the second time in history that a vice president’s vote was needed to break a deadlock for a Cabinet nominee — and the first one was also nominated by President Donald Trump, in his first term. In 2017, then-Vice President Mike Pence cast the deciding vote for Betsy DeVos as education secretary.
Hegseth, 44, has been in the thick of several allegations regarding alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement. He’s also taken heat for previous comments he has made about women serving in combat roles.
On Friday night, Hegseth posted on X a copy of a letter he sent North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis in response to detailed questions Tillis raised about the allegations. Tillis, who had not earlier disclosed how he would vote, said on X that he had done “due diligence” and would back Hegseth.
Hegseth’s confirmation followed a close procedural vote on Thursday when Murkowski and Collins alongside Democrats and independents opposed advancing his nomination.
Hegseth will now join Trump’s pool of Cabinet confirmations, which so far includes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.