Please welcome the new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5106171-pete-hegseth-defense-secretary-confirmed/Vance breaks tie to confirm Pete Hegseth as Defense secretary
Vice President Vance on Friday broke a Senate tie to confirm Pete Hegseth as President Trump’s secretary of Defense, capping a bruising two-month fight over the nominee, who faced a litany of allegations that included sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement and excessive drinking.
GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.) voted “no,” forcing Vance to step in and break the 50-50 tie. Murkowski and Collins had telegraphed their votes, but McConnell’s emerged as a surprise.
It is believed to be only the second time in history a vice president has had to break a tie on a nominee. Former Vice President Mike Pence broke a tie to confirm Betsy DeVos as secretary of Education in 2017.
McConnell, surprised colleagues by opposing Hegseth on the final confirmation vote after voting to advance his nomination Thursday.
He said he didn’t have confidence in the nominee’s ability to lead the nation’s military at a time of growing threats abroad.
“Mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough to fill these shoes. And ‘dust on boots’ fails even to distinguish this nominee from multiple predecessors of the last decade,” McConnell, the chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.
He said that Hegseth had “failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass” the “test” of managing a military with nearly 3 million employees and an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion.
And he said Hegseth’s answers at a confirmation hearing didn’t show much substance.
Hegseth, a former infantry officer in the Army National Guard who was awarded two Bronze Stars and later became a host at Fox News, is set to become the second-youngest secretary of Defense in history.
