On Friday night, Vice President J.D. Vance was called upon to cast a tiebreaking vote, enabling the Senate to confirm Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary.
“Congratulations to Pete Hegseth,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He will make a great Secretary of Defense!”
This marked the second instance in U.S. history when a vice president was needed to cast a deciding vote for a Cabinet nomination. The first occurred in 2017, during Trump’s first term, when Vice President Mike Pence broke a tie to confirm Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.
“I thought I was done voting in the Senate,” Vance, a former Republican senator from Ohio, joked on X, accompanied by a laughing emoji.
As expected, Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against Hegseth. However, a surprising “no” vote came from Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, forcing Vance, in his role as president of the Senate, to intervene with the tiebreaker.
McConnell, who had recently stepped down as the long-time Senate Republican leader, had voted earlier in the week to advance Hegseth’s nomination to a final vote. But after Friday’s vote, McConnell stated that Hegseth had not yet proven he had the necessary grasp of national security issues to manage what he described as “the most consequential Cabinet official in any administration.”
“Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences,” McConnell remarked in a statement, as reported by The New York Times. “Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test.”
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, another Republican who had been undecided about Hegseth, followed through on his commitment to support any of Trump’s Cabinet nominees once they passed through committee for a final Senate vote.
“From the beginning, I have been clear about my position: If President Trump’s nominees were reported favorably out of the relevant committees, I would support their confirmation on the Senate floor absent new material information about their qualifications,” Tillis posted on X. “Once Pete Hegseth’s nomination was sent to the floor by my colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I conducted my own due diligence, including asking tough questions of Pete, and I appreciated his candor and openness in answering them.”
“Pete has a unique perspective as a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is unquestionably passionate about modernizing our military and supporting the brave patriots like himself who serve our nation.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota reportedly began Friday’s session by highlighting Hegseth’s military experience, saying that as an Army combat hero, “he will bring a warrior’s perspective” to the position of defense secretary.
{Matzav.com}