Mitch McConnell Almost Sinks Hegseth With Dramatic ‘No’ Vote
Donald Trump’s Department of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth narrowly won Senate confirmation Friday night, in the face of damning charges of sexual abuse and alcohol-induced debauchery.
It took newly inaugurated Vice President JD Vance rushing to the Senate floor to cast a tie-breaking vote to salvage Hegseth’s nomination after former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell cast a stunning “no” vote against Hegseth, calling out Trump’s strong-arm tactics.
The vote against Trump, whom McConnell openly supported but quietly loathed, was years in the making, and came in the face of what the Kentucky Republican called “the gravest threats to U.S. national security interests since World War II.”
“By all accounts, brave young men and women join the military with the understanding that it is a meritocracy,” McConnell said in a statement. “This precious trust endures only as long as lawful civilian leadership upholds what must be a firewall between service members and politics.”
McConnell faulted the Biden administration but called out Trump’s campaign demands for fealty from his military officers, saying, “The restoration of ‘warrior culture’ will not come from trading one set of culture warriors for another.”
I thought I was done voting in the senate 😂
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 25, 2025
With Vance at the helm, however, the Senate voted 51-50 to confirm Hegseth as secretary of the Department of Defense, with three Republicans—including McConnell—joining all Democrats in opposition.
Hegseth and his family were in attendance for the Senate’s vote at the Capitol.
The thrice-married Hegseth prevailed in spite of detailed allegations of serial infidelity, sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, erratic behavior and financial mismanagement of two veterans’ organizations.
Chairman of the GOP-controlled Armed Services Committee Sen. Roger Wicker said on the Senate floor Friday night that Hegseth has “had some struggles,” but insisted: “He’s overcome those.”
Hegseth, 44, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. But he acknowledged paying $50,000 to a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2017.
“Gone will be the days of woke distractions,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune declared, embracing President Donald Trump’s government-wide crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. “The Pentagon’s focus will be on war fighting.”
The ex-Fox & Friends personality and former infantry officer is among several polarizing figures Trump has chosen to fill his incoming Cabinet.
Senate confirmation of the flawed candidate underscored the freshly inaugurated president’s power over congressional Republicans.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had also bucked their party—and President Trump—in opposing Hegseth’s nomination after senators were provided a sworn affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, alleging he caused his second wife to fear for her safety.
Hegseth supporters noted that his ex-wife, Samantha, who was bound by a 2018 divorce nondisparagement clause, denied the accusations.
During his testy confirmation hearing last month, Hegseth told senators he was a “changed” man. “I am not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” he said.
His promise wasn’t enough to persuade McConnell, Collins and Murkowski. McConnell, 82, who stepped down from his leadership role this month, didn’t announce how he would he vote beforehand. An old-school GOP establishmentarian, he held Trump “morally responsible” for the bloody Jan. 6 riots on the Capitol, defended his Chinese-American wife against racially tinged attacks by Trump—who demeaned Elaine Chao as “Coco Chow”—and this week, condemned Trump for freeing the Jan. 6 convicts.
McConnell didn’t mention the personal allegations against Hegseth. He noted that with the combined encroaching adversarial forces of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, stewardship of the U.S. military, with its annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, is a “massive and solemn responsibility.”
“The most consequential Cabinet official in any Administration is the Secretary of Defense,” McConnell said in a statement explaining his decision. “In the face of the gravest threats to U.S. national security interests since World War II, this position is even more important today.”
Democrats slammed the confirmation process, with some fuming that lawmakers were not given access to an FBI background check detailing the sordid allegations.
Trump allies and grassroots organizations ramped up pressure on skeptical Republicans in the weeks leading up to the vote, with money pouring into states like Iowa, and threats of primaries emerging against potential GOP opponents as pressure tactics.
The Senate has already confirmed Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and his CIA director, John Ratcliffe. And on Saturday the chamber is set to vote on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary.
Next week, senators are slated to hold a series of confirmation hearings on other controversial nominees, including Kash Patel to lead the FBI, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence.