Hegseth’s nomination had been rocked by allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct.
Pete Hegseth has been confirmed as the United States defence secretary, with Vice President JD Vance casting the vote to break a 50-50 tie, underscoring the controversy over his nomination which has been rocked by allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct.
Friday’s confirmation of Hegseth, a 44-year-old former Fox News personality and decorated veteran, is seen as a victory for President Donald Trump amid opposition from all Democrats, an independent and three Republican members of the Senate.
It was only the second time in history a cabinet nominee needed a tie-break to be confirmed. The first was also a Trump nominee, Betsy DeVos, who became education secretary in 2017.
Hegseth, who is promising to bring major changes to the Pentagon, takes over as defence chief amid the war in Ukraine, ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as the push of the Trump administration to expand the military’s role on the US-Mexico border.
He is seen as the most divisive candidate to clinch the US military’s top job.
The three Republican senators who voted against Hegseth were Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell, the party’s leader in the chamber until this month.
McConnell said Hegseth had failed to demonstrate that he had the ability to effectively manage an organisation as large and complex as the military.
“Mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough to fill these shoes,” McConnell said in a statement.
Hegseth will lead 1.3 million active-duty service members and almost one million civilians who work for the US military, which has a near $1 trillion annual budget.
Hegseth told lawmakers that, until this point, the largest group he had managed was 100 people and the largest budget was $16m.
His nomination was also rocked by a series of accusations, including one this week by his former sister-in-law, who said he abused his second wife to the extent that she hid in a closet and had a code word to use with friends if she had to be rescued.
Hegseth strongly denied the accusations and his wife had previously denied any physical abuse.
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