Pete Hegseth’s Confirmation as Defense Secretary Sparks Debate

By a vote of 51-50, the United States Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination for Pete Hegseth to be Defense Secretary.

There was concern on Friday over signs that were displayed Thursday evening, which suggested that a senator might be waffled over whether to vote to confirm Trump’s choice for the Defense Department’s leader:

The confirmation of Pete Hegseth to the position of Secretary of Defense under President Donald Trump was always going to be a tight race. But North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis’ (R) comments on Thursday night have cast further doubts over his willingness.

After the 30-hour post-cloture period, the vote will be held on Friday at 8:57 PM Eastern.

Moore added, however, that Tillis “has not indicated how [he] plans to vote.” He had previously pledged to vote for confirmation if Hegseth reached the Senate floor.

Fox News’ senior congressional correspondent, Chad Pergram, confirmed on his X page that the vote was still going ahead for that time just before 9:00 p.m.–a good sign for Republicans. Surprise guests, including Pete Hegseth’s family, arrived at the Capitol shortly after 8:15 pm EST.

He said that the family had been whisked off to the Strom Thurmond Room and that it was “rare for a nominee (to) come to the Capitol to receive his/her confirmation.” Hegseth seems to be determined to see the process through, no matter what.

The road to the Senate vote for Hegseth has been bumpy. I wrote about an “anti-Catholic” attack on Hegseth in November 2024. In the last few days, a confidential document containing a former sister-in-law’s statement regarding Hegseth’s ex-wife was leaked. She denied that the allegation was true.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority leader, arrived just minutes after Hegseth.

Around 8:58 p.m. EST, the U.S. Senate started voting on the nominee. There were then two nays by Republican legislators, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. It was reported at 9:15 pm that Tillis had decided to vote for Hegseth.

Mitch McConnell, R-KY, then voted no, making it 49-50. But, as Pergram pointed out, “This sets up a possible tiebreaker vote for [Vice President JD] Vance, to confirm Hegseth. Vance will be the only vice president to break a tie to confirm a cabinet candidate. Pence on DeVos, in 2017”

Tillis cast his official aye at 9:26 pm, tying the vote. His office issued a statement shortly after the voting started on Hegseth’s nomination. The statement read:

Since the beginning, my position has been very clear: If the committees that report on President Trump’s nominations are favorable, then I will support their confirmation if there is no new information regarding their qualifications. After my colleagues in the Senate Armed Services Committee sent Pete Hegseth’s nomination to the Senate floor, I did my due diligence. I asked Pete tough questions and appreciated his candor.

Pete is a war veteran who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is passionate about supporting our brave patriots and modernizing our military. I will support Pete’s confirmation and look forward to working with him to advance President Trump’s peace through force agenda and rebuild our military.

Vance posted a dry wit example on his X page, saying:

I thought I was done voting in the Senate

He ended with a laughing emoji. Then the vice president and president of the Senate arrived on Capitol Hill around 9:44 p.m. EST, to cast the tie-breaking vote, at 9:51 p.m. EST.