Hegseth narrowly wins confirmation to become US defense secretary By Reuters

By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pete Hegseth narrowly won enough votes to become the next U.S. defense secretary on Friday, a major victory for President Donald Trump after fierce opposition from Democrats and even some Republicans to his controversial candidate.

Hegseth was confirmed after a 50-50 vote in the Senate, when Vice President JD Vance arrived in the chamber to break the tie in his role as Senate president, after three Republicans joined all Democrats and independents to vote no.

Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and decorated veteran, promises to bring major changes to the Pentagon. But her leadership will be under intense scrutiny after a tough confirmation review that raised serious questions about her qualifications, temperament and views on women in combat.

“We’ve never had a defense secretary like Hegseth before,” said Jeremi Suri, a history professor and presidential scholar at the University of Texas at Austin.

Hegseth is the most divisive candidate to win the top job in the US military, a position that has historically gone to candidates with extensive experience leading large organizations and who enjoy broad bipartisan support.

It was only the second time in history that a cabinet candidate needed a runoff to be confirmed. The first was also a Trump candidate, Betsy DeVos, who became Secretary of Education in 2017.

The three Republican senators who voted against Hegseth were Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell, who was the party’s leader in the chamber until this month.

McConnell said Hegseth had failed to demonstrate that he had the ability to effectively manage an organization as large and complex as the military. “A mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough to fill these positions,” McConnell said in a statement.

The Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, said in a statement that he would watch Hegseth “like a hawk” and “demand accountability.”

Hegseth will lead 1.3 million active-duty service members and nearly 1 million civilians who work for the U.S. military, which has an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion. Hegseth told lawmakers that, up to that point, the largest group he had led was 100 people and the largest budget was $16 million.

His nomination was rocked by a series of accusations, including one this week from his ex-sister-in-law, who said he abused his second wife to the point that she hid in a closet and had a code word to use on friends if she had to be rescued. Hegseth strongly denied the allegations and his wife had previously denied any physical abuse.

TRUMP FIRMLY BEHIND THE PICK

Trump, whose nominees for the FBI and intelligence chief are also under Senate scrutiny, stood by his choice and lobbied his fellow Republicans extensively to back the 44-year-old television personality.

Suri said the vote demonstrated the extent of Trump’s power at the start of his second term.

“This certainly means that Trump has enormous influence over the Republican Party and over members of the Senate,” he said.

Before Friday’s vote, Trump had admonished two fellow Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who voted against Hegseth in a procedural test vote on Thursday.

“I was very surprised that Collins and Murkowski did that,” Trump told reporters Friday morning.

But most Senate Republicans lined up to defend the nominee who they said would return a “warrior” mentality to the U.S. military.

Hegseth has criticized diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military and, in his latest book, asked whether America’s top general has the job because he is Black. Reuters has previously reported on the possibility of mass layoffs among top brass, something Hegseth repeatedly refused to rule out during his confirmation process.

OPPOSITE WOMEN IN COMBAT

For years, Hegseth also staunchly opposed women in combat roles, but walked back that stance when she sought support for her confirmation, including from military veterans like Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.

Ernst was one of 14 Republicans on the Armed Services Committee who voted for Hegseth when the committee endorsed him 14-13, with all Democrats opposing his nomination.

Several episodes have raised concerns about Hegseth, including a 2017 sexual assault allegation that did not result in charges and which Hegseth denies. Sexual assault is a persistent problem in the US military.

Hegseth has also been accused of excessive alcohol consumption and financial mismanagement at veterans organizations. He promised to abstain from alcohol if confirmed and said he made financial mistakes but denied any wrongdoing.

In a 2021 incident first reported by Reuters, a member of the Army National Guard called Hegseth an “insider threat” because of his tattoos. Hegseth noted the incident during the hearing, which led to him being removed from guard duty in Washington during Biden’s inauguration.

He takes office as the Trump administration has said border security and immigration will be a focus for the U.S. military.

On Friday, U.S. C-17 military planes began flying detained immigrants out of the country on Trump’s orders, the U.S. military’s first such involvement in deportations in recent memory.

The Pentagon has announced plans to send 1,500 active-duty troops to the border in response to Trump’s orders, a number that appears poised to grow rapidly. U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday that the military was preparing to send a second wave of troops, likely from the 82nd Airborne.

Little is known about Hegseth’s position on key foreign policy issues such as arming Ukraine, how to prepare the US military for a possible conflict with China and whether he would seek to reduce the US military footprint in places like Syria and Iraq.

The nearly party-line confirmation vote was a shift in a position that Republican and Democratic administrations have long tried to ensure was bipartisan.

Former President Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was confirmed 93-2 in 2021, and Jim Mattis, Trump’s first Defense Secretary in his last administration, was confirmed 98-1 in 2017.

Hegseth’s Republican supporters in the Senate have argued that he has acknowledged personal failings, including past infidelities and alcoholism, and is the right person to refocus attention on the Pentagon’s core mission of winning wars.

The last candidate for Secretary of Defense to be defeated was former Senator John Tower in 1989. Tower was investigated for allegations of drunkenness and inappropriate behavior with women.