Pete Hegseth, who faces a Senate affirmation vote Friday night time, might be accepted by the narrowest margin for any protection secretary in trendy historical past.
Secretaries of protection have traditionally been consensus nominees, and senators have usually supplied robust assist in an indication of U.S. authorities unity on nationwide safety points. Excluding John Tower’s rejection for finest Pentagon job underneath President George Hw Bush in 1989, virtually all nominees acquired overwhelming bipartisan Senate assist. Some had been confirmed by voice vote, with no formal name even required.
However Mr. Hegseth, a fight veteran turned Fox Information character who has confronted a number of allegations of non-public misconduct, noticed his nomination superior Thursday on a 51-49 partisan vote, all Democrats and two Republicans.
The votes of two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, had been a uncommon partisan break with any president contemplating a Cupboard official.
“I used to be very shocked that Collins and Murkowski did it,” Mr. Trump informed reporters Friday.
The shut vote made clear that issues about Mr. Hegseth’s character and studies of extreme consuming, lack of administration expertise and statements in opposition to ladies in fight have exacted a deep toll in each events .
He has at all times denied all accusations relating to his private conduct.
Mr. Hegseth can afford to lose a single Republican within the Friday night time vote and nonetheless be confirmed. If one further Republican opposes him, Vice President JD Vance can sever a tie with Democrats and push him towards affirmation. But when multiple vote in opposition to him, Mr. Hegseth could be voted out. It could be a stinging early defeat for President Trump, who has staunchly supported the Republican-controlled Senate.
Mr. Hegseth’s closest comparability is the 2013 debate over the nomination of Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska and the Vietnam veteran chosen by President Barack Obama to steer the Pentagon. Mr. Hagel encountered fierce resistance from his fellow Republicans, though he was in the end confirmed 58-41, with 4 Republicans becoming a member of Democrats to push him over the end line.
Apart from that vote and Mr. Tower’s rejection following accounts of his extreme consuming, no different Secretary of Protection nominee previously 50 years has acquired fewer than 90 votes, Leon Panetta was confirmed 100-0 in 2011. Three others – Harold Brown in 1977, Les Aspin in 1993 and Donald Rumsfeld in 2001 – sailed on voice votes.
