Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth was confirmed as defense secretary on Friday evening after a close vote in the US Senate, a victory for President Donald Trump despite troubling allegations about Hegseth’s conduct and questions about his suitability for the job.
Hegseth’s nomination was not secured until late that evening when Vice President J.D. Vance intervened to break the tie after three Senate Republicans voted against him. Hegseth has been charged with assault and with a history of alcohol abuse. His candidacy appeared in doubt earlier this week when another person came forward with allegations that Hegseth had abused his former wife.
Hegseth co-hosted the Fox News show “Fox & Friends Weekend” from 2017 until late last year, when he resigned after Trump nominated him to oversee the nation’s military. He previously served in the National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. But from the start, he has been criticized by many military professionals as shockingly unfit to lead such a large organization as the Pentagon.
Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and a former Senate Majority Leader voted against Hegseth’s nomination, as did GOP Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
The voting, which ended around 10 p.m. ET, marked only the second time in U.S. history that a vice president had to use his tie-breaking power to win approval for a Cabinet nominee. The first, according to CNN, was when Vice President Mike Pence had to intervene to get Betsy DeVos confirmed as head of the Education Department in 2017.
Earlier Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Hegseth, calling him “one of the most erratic, unqualified and unsuitable Cabinet nominees we have ever seen in modern times” and warning that his nomination would undermine the “credibility of the Republican majority” would endanger. CNN reports this.