Senate Confirms Hegseth for Defense Secretary After Vance Casts Tie-Breaker

The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the new secretary of defense in a late-night session on Jan. 24 that came down to a tie-breaking decision from Vice President JD Vance after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted no.

President Donald Trump’s nominee initially deadlocked in a 50-50 vote, capping off a contentious confirmation process in which Hegseth faced questions about his views on women serving in combat, as well as allegations of alcoholism, sexual assault, and financial mismanagement at two veteran nonprofit organizations.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) broke ranks with their fellow Republicans to oppose Hegseth’s confirmation. They had signaled their opposition ahead of the hearing late on Jan. 24.

Trump celebrated Hegseth’s confirmation telling reporters in Los Angeles, “We’re very happy about that, we appreciate everyone’s vote.”

When asked to for a reaction to McConnell’s no vote, Trump replied that he didn’t know about development.

“I just heard that we won. Winning is what matters, right?” he said.

In the minutes before the vote, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) urged his colleagues to vote against the nomination, while Sen. Roger Wicker (D-Miss.) made the opposite case, noting that Hegseth had grappled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Hegseth, 44, served in the National Guard from 2002 to 2021. He served as an infantry officer and saw combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring from service at the rank of major.

Throughout the confirmation process, Hegseth has said his focus will be on expanding the warrior ethos of the U.S. military.

“[Trump], like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, warfighting, accountability, and readiness,” Hegseth said in his opening remarks at his Jan. 14 confirmation hearing.

Hegseth has also said he seeks to reduce the military’s focus on contentious political debates, which he feels detract from time spent on training in practical warfighting skills.

While Hegseth has said he wants the military to remain “patriotically apolitical and stridently constitutional,” some of his detractors have raised concerns that he would go after his perceived political enemies. Some senators had also raised concerns that women in the military might not have Hegseth’s full support.

Hegseth has offered mixed comments about women serving in combat roles. In a November interview on the “Shawn Ryan Show,” Hegseth said, “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.”

At other points, he has said he’s concerned about military leaders lowering standards just to get women to fill more combat roles, including infantry, artillery, and special operations positions.