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The Senate narrowly voted to confirm embattled Pete Hegseth as secretary of the Department of Defense, in a major win for President Donald Trump and his new administration.
Vice President JD Vance cast the 51-50 tie-breaking vote after former GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joined Democrats to oppose Hegseth’s nomination. It was just the second time in history that a vice president has broken a tie for a Cabinet nominee – the other being then-Vice President Mike Pence for Betsy DeVos’ 2017 confirmation to lead the Education Department.
Hegseth will be sworn in as the secretary of defense Saturday morning by the vice president at the White House, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Hegseth’s confirmation process has been mired in allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement of veterans’ charities, all of which he has denied. The Friday vote marked a significant victory for the Trump administration, which has gone to the mat backing Hegseth as its nominee, despite his lack of experience and allegations against him.
Trump told reporters Friday night that he had called Hegseth from Marine One. Hegseth, who had been in the Senate Friday night to watch his confirmation vote, would “be a great secretary,” the president said.
“We just heard that we have a great secretary of defense – we’re very happy about that, we appreciate everyone’s vote,” Trump told reporters in an early celebration as Vance was on his way to the Senate.
As secretary, Hegseth has sworn to overhaul the department, particularly policies that he considers “woke,” and streamline its bureaucracy. Speaking during his confirmation hearing, Hegseth told lawmakers he would like to restore a “warrior culture” to the Pentagon.
McConnell echoed the phrase in a searing statement shortly after voting against Hegseth’s nomination, charging that “the restoration of ‘warrior culture’ will not come from trading one set of culture warriors for another.”
“By all accounts, brave young men and women join the military with the understanding that it is a meritocracy. This precious trust endures only as long as lawful civilian leadership upholds what must be a firewall between servicemembers and politics,” McConnell said. “The Biden Administration failed at this fundamental task. But the restoration of ‘warrior culture’ will not come from trading one set of culture warriors for another.”
While Senate GOP leaders had been uncertain about how McConnell and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina would vote as of Friday afternoon, Tillis ultimately voted in favor of the nomination.
With their slim majority, Republicans could only afford to lose three GOP votes and still confirm the defense secretary with a tie-breaking vote by Vance. Hegseth had been engaged with senators as his confirmation came down to the wire, according to senior adviser Eric Ueland.
“There’s been a lot of conversations between the secretary-designate and lots of senators,” Ueland told CNN ahead of the vote.
Tillis sad he spoke with Hegseth for “nearly 2 hours” on Friday, before the senator announced he would back his nomination.
The nominee had faced criticism in the days leading up to his confirmation.
Murkowski and Collins released statements criticizing Hegseth on Thursday, after they announced their opposition to his nomination. Murkowski later told CNN that Hegseth “lacks that strength of character” needed to lead the Department of Defense.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Hegseth Friday morning, calling him “one of the most erratic, unqualified and unfit Cabinet nominees we have ever seen in modern times” and warning that his confirmation would endanger the “credibility of the Republican majority.”
“He has neither the character, the experience or the judgment required by the job,” the New York Democrat added.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Kit Maher and Donald Judd contributed to this report.