Hegseth Confirmed As Secretary of Defense After Chaotic Process
By Daily Caller. Pete Hegseth was confirmed Friday as the 29th secretary of Defense after a contentious Senate confirmation process.
The vote was split down party lines, with 50 votes for and 50 votes against and Vice President JD Vance set to break the tie, according to the unofficial tally. Hegseth will oversee the U.S. armed forces’ domestic and foreign activities as its civilian head.
“Pete has a unique perspective as a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is unquestionably passionate about modernizing our military and supporting the brave patriots like himself who serve our nation,” Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who was rumored to have defected with his vote, said on X Friday. “I will support his confirmation and look forward to working with him to rebuild our military and advance President Trump’s peace through strength agenda.”
Republican defections included Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins.
Hegseth’s confirmation hearing was tense, as his allegations of sexual assault and past comments on women’s role in the military drew harsh attacks from Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Despite the attacks, he drew praise from his Republican colleagues for his performance. (Read more from “Hegseth Confirmed As Secretary of Defense After Chaotic Process” HERE)
________________________________________________
Hegseth confirmed: Vance comes to rescue after McConnell rebellion forces tiebreaker
By Washington Examiner. Pete Hegseth will be the next secretary of defense after Vice President JD Vance cast a historic vote to save his confirmation when Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) rejected the nominee at the last hour.
The turbulent nomination threatened to split Republicans on one of President Donald Trump’s most consequential Cabinet picks and sets up a tense future as McConnell surprised his conference in voting “no” a day after supporting moving the process forward.
In a vote that fell mostly along party lines, the upper chamber voted 51-50 to confirm Hegseth to run the Pentagon and its sprawling, $840 billion budget.
McConnell, the former GOP leader, emerged as a surprise “no” vote on Friday, joining Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in opposition. Their defections forced Vance to travel to the Capitol to cast his first tiebreaker as vice president.
McConnell issued a lengthy statement defending his rejection of Hegseth, highlighting the charged geopolitical moment and the “gravest threats to U.S. national security interests since World War II.” (Read more from “Hegseth confirmed: Vance comes to rescue after McConnell rebellion forces tiebreaker” HERE)
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
