US Senate approves Hegseth as defense secretary by 51-50 vote

The U.S. Senate has approved Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee to service arsenic defence secretary, connected a mostly party-line 51-50 vote.

Vice President J.D. Vance broke the 50-50 necktie successful the 100-member Senate, casting the deciding vote. It is lone the 2nd clip successful U.S. past that a vice president, who is president of the Senate, would person to interruption a necktie for a nominee.

The ballot precocious Friday followed days of Senate statement implicit Hegseth’s fittingness for the apical civilian relation successful the U.S. military, managing the nation’s equipped forces.

In his confirmation proceeding earlier this month, Hegseth told lawmakers helium would bring backmost accountability to the nation’s military.

He received enactment from Senate Armed Services Committee president Senator Roger Wicker, who said, "Pete Hegseth has the determination and the tools to execute existent change. He volition inject a caller warrior ethos into the Pentagon, a tone that tin cascade from the apical down."

But Hegseth faced disapproval from Senate Democrats implicit his statements astir women and transgender radical serving successful the military, arsenic good arsenic allegations of intersexual assault, drunkenness and fiscal mismanagement of 2 nonprofits serving U.S. veterans that helium led.

Earlier this week, senators received an affidavit from Danielle Hegseth, Hegseth's erstwhile sister-in-law, alleging helium was abusive towards his 2nd ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth. She did not picture the maltreatment and said she did not witnesser it. In a connection to NBC News, which archetypal reported the story, Samantha Hegseth said, "There was nary carnal maltreatment successful my marriage."

Senator Jack Reed, the apical Democrat connected the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday helium was not satisfied with Hegseth’s answers to his questions astir reports that the Trump medication would instrumentality a committee to surface elder subject officers for their fittingness to lead.

"We've seen it hap successful different places astir the world, wherever militaries are undermined and subjected by governmental leaders that person a peculiar governmental constituent of presumption and passion, and they go fundamentally not an service but an hold of the governmental aspirations of the Great Leader. We can't spot that present successful America," Reed said.

Hegseth, a erstwhile tv big astatine the blimpish Fox News Channel, besides served arsenic an serviceman successful the Army National Guard successful Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay and is the writer of respective books.

"I don't person a akin biography to defence secretaries of the past 30 years," Hegseth told senators successful his opening statement, "But arsenic President Trump besides told me, we've repeatedly placed radical atop the Pentagon with the expected close of credentials, whether they are retired generals, academics oregon defence contractor executives. And wherever has it gotten us?"

Republican senators praised Hegseth for his caller perspective.

"Mr. Hegseth volition bring vigor and caller ideas to shingle up the bureaucracy. He volition absorption relentlessly connected the warfare combatant and the military's halfway missions, deterring wars and winning the ones we indispensable fight," Wicker said during the confirmation hearings.

Hegseth said his priorities if confirmed arsenic caput of defence would absorption connected the menace posed by China and defence of the homeland, portion reorienting the U.S. distant from entanglements successful the Middle East. He besides pledged to reconstruct morale and extremity diverseness initiatives that helium sees arsenic harmful to establishing a merit-based military.

Asked however helium sees his imaginable role, Hegseth replied, "Getting thing that doesn't lend to our ideology retired of however decisions are made wrong the Pentagon. What sex you are. What contention you are. Your views connected clime change. Your conscience and your religion should person nary bearing connected whether you get promoted oregon whether you're selected to spell to West Point oregon wherever you spell to school. Only happening that should substance is, ‘How susceptible are you astatine your job? How fantabulous are you astatine your job?’"

Hegseth is the archetypal caput of defence to person served arsenic a inferior serviceman connected the beforehand lines, and the archetypal caput from the procreation that fought successful post-9/11 wars.

Senate Democrats said Hegseth’s acquisition moving 2 nonprofits benefiting subject veterans, with less than 100 employees, was not capable acquisition to tally the monolithic U.S. Department of Defense.

"We're hiring you to beryllium the CEO of 1 of the astir complex, largest organizations successful the world. We're the committee of directors here. I don't cognize of immoderate firm committee of directors that would prosecute a CEO, that said, you know, ‘I supervised 100 radical before,’" Democratic Senator Gary Peters.

The Defense Department oversees much than 3 cardinal work members and a fund of $857 billion.

Hegseth besides faced allegations of intersexual battle and nationalist drunkenness during his clip astatine Fox News. Reed said the FBI inheritance probe into Hegseth was insufficient.

"You deficiency the quality and composure and competence to clasp the positions of defense," Reed said, noting helium has voted for each 9 erstwhile nominees for caput of defense, including nominees during Trump’s archetypal term.

All Cabinet nominees acquisition a inheritance cheque and an morals review.

Hegseth faced allegations of fiscal mismanagement of the 2 nonprofits wherever helium served arsenic enforcement manager — Vets for Freedom, and Concerned Vets for America. After a 2009 audit of Vets for Freedom, Hegseth admitted the enactment was fractional a cardinal dollars successful debt, and helium was demoted.

During his clip astatine Concerned Vets for America, Hegseth faced whistleblower allegations of idiosyncratic misconduct and fiscal mismanagement.

Hegseth said the allegations were portion of a coordinated smear run by left-wing media and mostly came from anonymous sources.

"We undertook this work with work to the troops to bash close by them, for our warfare fighters. And what became precise evident to america from the beginning, determination was a coordinated smear run orchestrated successful the media against america that was wide from infinitesimal one. And that it wasn't astir me. Most of it was astir President Donald Trump, who's had to endure the precise aforesaid happening for overmuch longer amounts of time, and helium endured it — to his recognition — successful incredibly beardown ways," Hegseth said during his confirmation.

Hegseth has besides faced disapproval for past remarks astir diverseness successful the U.S. military.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said Hegseth had done "a precise large about-face successful a abbreviated play of time" owed to Trump’s information of him arsenic caput of defense.

Warren said past week, "For 12 years, you were rather unfastened astir your views — and your views were consistently the same: Women are inferior soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and Guardians. Then connected November 9, 2024, conscionable 32 days aft your past nationalist comments saying that women perfectly should not beryllium successful combat, you state that ‘Some of our top warriors are women.’"

Five women who served successful combat wrote letters of enactment of Hegseth’s nomination.

Hegseth pledged that women would person entree to crushed combat roles during his tenure arsenic caput of defense.

"Given the standards stay high, and we'll person a reappraisal to guarantee standards person not been eroded successful immoderate 1 of these cases," helium said.