WASHINGTON: Pete Hegseth narrowly secured enough votes on Friday to become the next US defence secretary, a major victory for President Donald Trump after fierce opposition from Democrats and even some Republicans to his controversial nominee.

Hegseth was confirmed after a 50-50 vote in the Senate, when Vice President JD Vance came to the chamber to break the tie in his role as president of the Senate, after three Republicans joined every Democrat and independent in voting no.

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

Hegseth is the most divisive candidate to clinch the US military’s top job, a position that has historically gone to candidates with deep experience running large organisations and who enjoy broad bipartisan support.

Confirmation comes after VP Vance breaks tie

It was only the second time in history a cabinet nominee needed a tie-break to be confirmed. The first was also a Trump nominee, Betsy DeVos, who became secretary of education in 2017.

The three Republican senators who voted against Hegseth were Senators 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 organisation as large and complex as the military. “Mere desire to be a change agent is not enough to fill these shoes,” McConnell said in a statement.

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

Hegseth will lead 1.3 million active-duty service members and the nearly 1m civilians who work for the US military, which has a nearly $1 trillion annual budget. Hegseth told lawmakers that, up until this point, the largest group he had managed was 100 people and the largest budget was $16 million.

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

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

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

But most Senate Republicans fell into line to defend the nominee who they said would res­tore a “warrior” mentality to the US military.

Hegseth has criticised diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military, and, in his latest book, asked whether the top US general has the job because he is Black. Reuters has previously reported about the possibility mass firing among top brass, something Hegseth repeatedly refused to rule out during his confirmation process.

For years, Hegseth also strongly opposed women in combat roles but walked back that stance as he courted support for his confirmation, including from military veterans like Republican Senator Joni Ernst.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2025