Pete Hegseth Confirmed As Defense Secretary Thanks To Vance’s Vote

Vance cast the 51-50 tie-breaking vote.

On Jan. 24, Vice President JD Vance broke the deadlocked confirmation of Pete Hegseth as the next secretary of defense with a vote in favor of his boss’s nominee. Hegseth was rejected by only three Republicans, former GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Vance cast the 51-50 tie-breaking vote.

According to CNN, the tie-breaking vote from Vance marked only the second time in American history that a cabinet position was decided by the vice president, the first was during the first Trump administration when Mike Pence voted in 2017 to confirm Betsy DeVos as the head of the Education Department.

Hegseth’s confirmation was contentious, given the allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and financial mismanagement of charities for veterans, which he denied. Trump, naturally, vouched for Hegseth, telling reporters that he believed Hegseth would “be a great secretary.”

“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 on Jan. 24 shortly before Vance’s vote.

According to The Washington Post, the dissent regarding Hegseth from Democrats hinged on his lack of management experience, previously espoused views that women don’t belong in combat, and his belief that international law and human rights work against the United States military.

In Hegseth’s first message to the armed forces, released on Jan. 25, he pledged to restore the warrior ethos, to rebuild the American military, and to reestablish deterrence.

According to Hegseth’s memo, “All of this will be done with a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness.”

Mitch McConnell has emerged as one of Hegseth’s more strident critics in the Republican Party, telling the outlet that he believes Hegseth failed to demonstrate that he had answers for the most pressing national security threats, including China.

“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 told the Post.

In a phone interview with The New Yorker in December, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat and a member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, described Hegseth’s nomination as “dangerous.”

“Much as we might be sympathetic to people with continuing alcohol problems, they shouldn’t be at the top of our national-security structure,” Sen. Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal continued, “It’s dangerous. The Secretary of Defense is involved in every issue of national security. He’s involved in the use of nuclear weapons. He’s the one who approves sending troops into combat. He approves drone strikes that may involve civilian casualties. Literally life-and-death issues are in the hands of the Secretary of Defense, and entrusting these kinds of issues to someone who might be incapacitated for any reason is a risk we cannot take.”