Hegseth confirmed as defense secretary despite McConnell's no vote

The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the nation’s defense secretary late Friday in a dramatic tie-breaking vote, despite a last-minute "no" vote from Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell.

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” and rounding out President Donald Trump’s top national security Cabinet officials.

Vice President JD Vance arrived to break the 50-50 tie.

“We have a great secretary of defense and we’re very happy,” Trump said as he boarded Air Force One after surveying fire devastation in California.

Trump said he didn’t care about the dissent from Sen. Mitch McConnell, the influential former Republican leader — who joined two other Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, in voting against Hegseth — because the “important thing is winning.”

McConnell had 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.”

After the vote, McConnell said Hegseth “did not reckon” with the reality of job, noting that the nominee’s “mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough.”

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.

But Democrats gravely opposed to Hegseth had little power to stop him, and instead resorted to dragging out the process. 

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.

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.

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.


(AP Photo Alex Brandon)