The Senate Armed Services Committee voted Monday along party lines to send President Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, to the full Senate for confirmation with a favorable report following an extremely adversarial confirmation hearing.
[RELATED: Democrats Grill Hegseth During Extremely Adversarial Confirmation Hearing…]
The committee voted along party lines, with all 14 Republicans supporting Hegseth and the 12 Democrats, along with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, opposing the nomination.
Currently, no date has been set for a full Senate vote on Hegseth, and typically the Senate waits seven days between the committee vote and the full Senate vote, though that requirement can be waived with unanimous Senate approval or in cases of particular urgency.
Throughout this confirmation hearing, Hegseth faced adversarial questions from Democrats who accused him of racism, sexism, sexual abuse, rape, alcoholism, and a slew of other flaws that he has repeatedly denied.
Sen. King even accused Hegseth of supporting the torture of military prisoners.
Since former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) dropped out of the running for Attorney General, Hegseth has emerged as President Trump’s most controversial Cabinet pick.
He has promised to remove forced Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices from the military, focus on merit, and restore the U.S. armed forces’ war-fighting ability.
Hegseth’s confirmation likely depends on a few more centrist Republicans who have opposed parts of Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda.
Those senators include Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
All of those senators have expressed skepticism about Hegseth.
Sen. Collins previously met with him and claimed that they discussed all her concerns, but she has not said whether she will vote for him.
