A tie vote in the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as Defense secretary had to be broken by Vice President JD Vance on Friday night. The 50-50 split in the U.S. Senate was due to Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Mitch McConnell — all three Republicans — voting against Hegseth, along with the Democrats, while all other Republicans voted for President Donald Trump’s nominee.
The Senate waited for the vice president to arrive and cast the tie-breaking vote. It was Vance’s first tie-breaking vote in the Senate, which has a narrow Republican majority.
As Murkowski and Collins huddled together in the chamber, JD Vance arrived and voted to affirm Hegseth.
Murkowski was the first of the three Republicans to state her objection to Hegseth, saying he was not qualified. But Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, a U.S. Marine veteran, found him qualified enough and voted to affirm Hegseth.
Late Friday evening after the vote, Sullivan talked about Hegseth’s goals as Defense secretary:
“After a number of substantive discussions with Pete Hegseth, including during his confirmation hearing, I am confident Mr. Hegseth will work to refocus our military on lethality, warfighting and peace through strength, as well as getting rid of the damaging woke policies of the Biden administration, some of which I witnessed firsthand as a Marine Corps Reserve Officer,” Sullivan said. “These have been my top priorities as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and they will be Mr. Hegseth’s. Mr. Hegseth also assured me that he understands the important role that women play in our military, including in combat, as well as the strategic importance of Alaska. Along with President Trump, he is also committed to continuing the military buildup in our great state. I want to congratulate the incoming Secretary of Defense on his confirmation and look forward to welcoming him up to Alaska soon to see firsthand the critical strategic asset our state is to our national security.”
