Braxton Taylor
Pete Hegseth is the new secretary of defense following a bruising confirmation fight that revealed he has been accused of sexual assault, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement.
The Senate voted 51-50 on Friday night to confirm Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, with Vice President JD Vance needing to break a tie after three Republicans voted with all Democrats against him. Still, Hegseth garnered enough support to win approval from Republicans who brushed aside the misconduct allegations and concerns about his lack of experience leading a large organization.
Hegseth, a National Guard veteran who was a Fox News host before being nominated to lead the federal government’s largest agency, will now take the helm of the Pentagon as it turns its focus to President Donald Trump’s priorities of deporting migrants and ending diversity programs.
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The Senate’s approval of Hegseth comes after his ability to be confirmed once appeared to be in doubt — and after new revelations about the misconduct allegations against him came out just this week.
Hegseth has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a California hotel room in 2017 during a Republican conference. He has denied assaulting the woman, but has acknowledged paying her a settlement in exchange for her signing a confidentiality agreement.
Hegseth paid the woman $50,000, he said in written answers to the Senate Armed Services Committee obtained by Military.com and first reported by The Associated Press on Thursday. While he first acknowledged the settlement in November, the dollar amount was not publicly known before this week.
Another curveball in Hegseth’s confirmation that came this week was the news that his former sister-in-law accused him of abusing his second ex-wife in an affidavit sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee at the request of the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island.
In the affidavit, a copy of which was obtained by Military.com and was first reported by NBC News, the former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, said that the ex-wife, Samantha, told her that she once hid in a closet from Hegseth because she “feared for her personal safety.” Danielle Hegseth also alleged that Samantha Hegseth had a code word to text people when she felt she needed to get away from Hegseth and that Samantha Hegseth once texted her the code word.
In statements to NBC News, Hegseth’s lawyer denied the allegations, and Samatha Hegseth denied there was any physical abuse in the marriage.
The affidavit also contained new allegations that he made racist and sexist comments and abused alcohol, including one time in which Hegseth was allegedly dragged out of a strip club he went to while wearing his military uniform in the middle of a National Guard drill weekend.
Hegseth has also been accused of financial mismanagement at two conservative veterans organizations he led, along with other misconduct on the job, including excessive drinking. He has denied those allegations, but also promised that he will not drink any alcohol when he is defense secretary.
Beyond the allegations about his personal behavior, Hegseth had a rocky path to confirmation because of his previously stated views that women should not be allowed to serve in combat.
During the confirmation process, he walked those comments back, saying his concern was that standards have been lowered so women can qualify for combat jobs and that they should be afforded the opportunity to compete for those jobs as long as standards are high. He has offered no evidence that standards have been lowered.
Ultimately, most Republicans lined up in support of Hegseth. His confirmation appeared all but assured after one of his early GOP skeptics, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, said she would vote to approve him.
“A veteran of the Army National Guard who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. Hegseth will bring a warrior’s perspective to the role of defense secretary and will provide much-needed fresh air at the Pentagon,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on the Senate floor Friday morning. “Gone will be the days of ‘woke’ distractions. The Pentagon’s focus will be on warfighting.”
Still, the vote came down the wire and Hegseth came to the Senate to watch the vote with his family, a rare instance of a nominee being present for their own vote. He also posted a copy of a letter on social media as the vote started that he sent to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., denying the allegations in Danielle Hegseth’s letter.
Tillis was seen as a potential swing vote, but announced his support for Hegseth on social media just after Hegseth posted the denial letter.
Hegseth is only the second Cabinet nominee ever to be confirmed with a tie-breaking vote, after Betsy DeVos was approved with then-Vice President Mike Pence’s vote in 2017 during the first Trump administration.
GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined all Democrats in opposing Hegseth’s nomination.
McConnell, who was the Senate Republican leader until this year, said in a statement Friday night that he voted against Hegseth because “mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough to fill these shoes.”
Collins said she was “not convinced” Hegseth had actually changed his views on women in combat and that she was concerned about his lack of experience. Murkowski said behavior Hegseth has admitted to, including multiple instances of infidelity, “starkly contrast the values and discipline expected of service members.”
“Men and women in uniform are held accountable for such actions, and they deserve leaders who uphold these same standards,” Murkowski said in a Thursday statement. “Above all, I believe that character is the defining trait required of the secretary of defense and must be prioritized without compromise.”
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