The United States Senate has narrowly voted to confirm Army veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for the position of secretary of the U.S. Department of Defense, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
Hegseth received a 50-50 vote by the Senate on Friday evening, with all Democrats and three Republicans voting against him, while the remaining GOP members voted for him.
The Republicans who voted against confirmation were Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Vance, whose position includes being president of the Senate, cast the 51st vote in favor of Hegseth.
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This marks one of the few times since 1975 that a defense secretary nominee has received fewer than 90 votes, reported The New York Times, with the last time being in 2013 when then-President Barack Obama’s nominee Chuck Hagel received 58 yes votes.
“I thought I was done voting in the Senate,” quipped Vance on his X account, referring to his previous role as a U.S. senator representing Ohio.
Last November, then-President-elect Donald Trump announced that Hegseth, an author, veteran and co-host of the Fox News show “Fox & Friends Weekend,” would be his defense secretary nominee.
Hegseth was a polarizing choice, given his alleged history of alcohol abuse, allegations of sexual misconduct, and previously stated opposition to women serving in combat.
Shortly after the nomination was announced, allegations surfaced that Hegseth had sexually assaulted a woman in a California hotel room in 2017; Hegseth denied any wrongdoing.
A district attorney refused to file charges against Hegseth over the incident due to not having “proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” Hegseth made a confidential settlement with the woman in 2023.
During an hours-long hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, Hegseth was grilled on multiple issues, including his failed marriages and admitted adultery, as well as the 2017 incident.
During his line of questioning, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., pointed to an email sent by Hegseth’s mother back in 2018 stating that Hegseth had “abused in some way” multiple women.
Hegseth’s mother later told media outlets she had written the email “in haste” and with “deep emotions” and, shortly after sending this message, “retracted it with an apology email.”
Earlier this week, NBC News reported that senators received an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law alleging that Hegseth had abused and threatened with violence his second wife, Samantha Hegseth.
For her part, Samantha Hegseth told NBC News, “I do not believe your information to be accurate,” adding that there had been “no physical abuse in my marriage.”
Tim Parlatore, a lawyer for Pete Hegseth, also dismissed the allegations in a statement to NBC News, saying that “Sam has never alleged that there was any abuse, she signed court documents acknowledging that there was no abuse and recently reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview.”
On Thursday, the Senate had voted 51-49 to end debate on Hegseth and to have a final confirmation vote on the nominee, with Murkowski and Collins joining all 47 Senate Democrats to vote against Hegseth.
