Pete Hegseth narrowly wins confirmation to be Trump’s defense secretary
Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, was confirmed as the next secretary of defense after Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote in the Senate Friday night.
Senators voted 50-50 before Vance had to be called in to tip the balance.
Hegseth will take the helm at the Defense Department as the DOD gears up for potential wars against high-tech adversaries such as China.
During his confirmation process, Hegseth pledged that as defense secretary he would prioritize investments in AI, drones and counter-drone systems, among other technologies that he considers key to military modernization.
“If confirmed, I will direct the Service Secretaries, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering to accelerate adoption and integration of cost-effective and highly capable unmanned systems to transition to the force of the future,” he wrote in response to advance policy questions from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee before his confirmation hearing, which took place last week.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools can help the Defense Department boost its decision support capabilities “from the boardroom to the battlefield,” he noted.
Advancing the DOD’s arsenal of AI and uncrewed platforms was also a top military modernization priority for the Biden administration. The Trump administration seems poised to accelerate that push.
One of Hegseth’s first tasks in his new job will be to oversee implementation of Trump’s executive orders to use the military to help beef up security on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump in November named Hegseth as his choice for SecDef. He officially submitted his nomination to lawmakers on Monday after he was sworn in for his second term.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host and author who served in the Army National Guard and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, was an unconventional and controversial pick to lead the Pentagon. He faced criticism for comments he made about the role of women in combat and the military’s diversity initiatives. He’s also been accused of sexual assault, financial mismanagement and excessive alcohol use — allegations which he’s denied. Some lawmakers also questioned his ability to lead an organization as massive as the Defense Department.
The final confirmation vote was expected to be close.
On Friday morning, a reporter asked Trump if he was concerned about Hegseth’s prospects after some GOP senators said they wouldn’t back him.
“Look, whatever it is, it is. He’s a good man. I don’t know what’s going to happen. You never know in those things. But Pete is a very, very good man. I hope he makes it. I hope he makes it,” Trump said, according to a White House transcript of his remarks.
During the final confirmation vote, Hegseth was supported by all but three Republican senators and no Democrats in the chamber.
Robert Salesses has been serving as the acting secretary of defense since Monday as the new administration awaited Hegseth’s confirmation.
For other top posts on his new Pentagon team, Trump has nominated billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg to be deputy secretary of defense; Michael Duffey to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; Emil Michael to be undersecretary of defense for research and engineering; and Elbridge “Bridge” Colby to be undersecretary of defense for policy.
The commander-in-chief has also nominated Troy Meink to be Air Force secretary and Daniel Driscoll and John Phelan to lead the Army and Navy as secretaries, respectively.
DOD official Gary Ashworth was selected to be acting secretary of the Air Force pending Meink’s confirmation. Pentagon officials Mark Averill and Terence Emmert were tapped to be acting secretaries of the Army and Navy, respectively, until permanent replacements are confirmed.
