The US Senate narrowly voted to confirm embattled Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, 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.
With their slim majority, Republicans could only afford to lose three Republican votes and still confirm Hegseth with a tie-breaking vote by Vance.
This is only the second time in history that a vice president has broken a tie for a Cabinet nominee. The other was Mike Pence, who did so in 2017 for Betsy DeVos to head the education department.
Hegseth was in the Senate Friday night to watch his confirmation vote. As secretary, he has sworn to overhaul the Pentagon, particularly policies that he considers “woke,” and streamline the department’s bureaucracy.
