The US Senate on Friday narrowly confirmed former Fox News cohost Pete Hegseth as Pentagon chief, despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other fears about his ability to lead the world’s most powerful military.
Three Republican senators voted against US President Donald Trump’s pick as secretary of defense, resulting in a 50-50 tie that required US Vice President J.D. Vance to cast the deciding ballot — only the second time in history a vice president has had to intervene to save a cabinet nominee.
The razor-edged result underscored concerns about Hegseth, who would take over the Pentagon with war raging in Ukraine, the Middle East volatile despite ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, and as Trump expands the military’s role in security on the US-Mexico border.
Photo: Bloomberg
The 44-year-old is a former US Army National Guard officer who until recently worked as a cohost for Fox News — one of Trump’s favored television channels.
He has pledged to focus the military on “lethality” and to bring back “warrior culture” to the Pentagon.
In confirming him, Republicans brushed aside his lack of experience leading an organization anywhere near the size of the US Department of Defense — the country’s largest employer with about 3 million personnel. They also approved Hegseth despite allegations of financial mismanagement at veterans’ nonprofits where he previously worked, reports of excessive drinking, and allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in California.
During his confirmation hearing last week Hegseth said there was a “coordinated smear campaign” against him.
Three Republicans — US Senators Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski — voted against him.
On Thursday, Murkowski wrote on X that “past behaviors Mr Hegseth has admitted to, including infidelity on multiple occasions, demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces.”
Prior to his approval by the full US Senate, lawmakers received an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth that added to the allegations against him.
“I believe [Pete] Hegseth has an alcohol abuse problem and was abusive to his ex-wife Samantha,” the affidavit said, although it added that Danielle Hegseth did not personally witness physical or sexual abuse by the incoming defense secretary.
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