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.
F*@k Angus King !
He’s not a part of the solution in Washington . He’s part of the problem .
He’s proving himself to be an enemy of the people of Maine .
It’s ALWAYS been about HIM , and never been about US .
What a poor representation of the people of Maine . Disgraceful.
Angus – WTF don’t you get in your camper and get the hell out of here .We don’t need YOU ,
What a jackass.
Leftist to the bone.
he is a useless human and is totally destructive to Maine and the USA. Mainers are you ready to wake up yet? Is it bad enough for you now?
The Senate Majority Leader should remove him from the Armed Service Committee for lack of intelligence
King Angus, the royal ruiner of Maine as Guv and carpet bagging phony who talks about killing his own grandchildren with his daughter
Pete refused to answer the question on the application from king “would you allow a senator to preform sexual favors to you and not report it?”. I guess the first applicant to ever say no.
Hey Jack#### King, you voted for Lloyd Austin. How did that work out? Afghanistan surrender and massacre, Hamas and Hezbollah out of control, Russian war and Chinese balloons freely spying on the US. Great job you idiot Angus.
Janet Mills, referred as the joe biden of maine, issued a pardon for Aaron Nichols who was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and having unlawful sexual contact with another teen in 2001. Mills served as Nichols’ legal counsel during his early 2000s assault case which is huge conflict of interest.
Still thinks he’s independent.
Anus King. More faces than a bushel of beechnuts, liar extraordinaire. Communist anti-Christ.
King is a fine example of a crony capitalist but a poor excuse for a former governor and now a senator.
Sadly we still have to deal with the left wing dingbats , Rinos, etc in our state… their opinions are not the peoples … they are very much out of touch with a huge number of Maine patriots. It’s all about that agenda , man.
Could care less about Anus King, just another DC non-working hack.
Angus voted for Merrick Garland and Myorkas, two of the worst people we ever had in those positions. Angus is a democrat RAT.
Soldier vs.Boy Scout. King knows nothing about war fighting.
OF COURSE HE DOES!
Anus King is a eunuch puppet of the Socialist Democrat Party! He does whatever his puppetmasters tell him, votes however they tell him, as he busily and obediently kisses their asses!
Anus King dislikes the idea of torturing military prisoners, but he certainly has no problem torturing Maine Citizens with his asinine Socialist Democrat policies!
Looks like Trump has not learned from his first term concerning lousy apointments. Angus gets something right for a change.
Angus makes us proud (not so much) – he looks ready for an old folks home.
@ Boxcar, so didn’t Susie, I am pretty sure she voted for all of Biden’s nominees.
If Pete wore a dress Angus would have voted for him
What a condescending prig.
Somehow he thinks that label “Independent” puts him above everyone else as some great free thinker. What a crock.. “What’s that Mr Shummer? Yes sir, whatever you say.”
Maine is a joke Angus is a cuck
It’s time to end Anus King’s political career!
And if Collins votes against Hagseth, end her political career too!
Enough of their buIIsh!t.
Pete is going to be SECDEF but Angus doesn’t ask any questions on shipbuilding or naval policy. Does he realize BIW is in Maine.