The Senate voted Friday night to validate Pete Hegseth as America’s subsequent defense secretary following a months-long press smear campaign that aimed to derail his nomination. The last ballot was 51-50, with Vice President J. D. Vance casting the tie-breaking voting after GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined Democrats in criticism.
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday approved Hegseth’s election, and the whole Senate took it into account. Republicans and Democrats both supported the Army senior, according to the committee’s political lines.
During last year’s assurance reading, Hegseth weathered disgusting problems from the agency’s Senate Democrats and made the case for why he’s the man to lead the Pentagon.
” Like many of my century, I’ve been there. I’ve led troops in battle, been on guard for days, pulled a button downrange, heard bullets guru by, flex-cuffed insurgents, called in nearby air help, led medevacs, dodged IEDs, pulled out dead bodies, and knelt before a battlefield cross”, Hegseth said. “]T] his is not educational for me, this is my career. I led then, and I did direct now”.
The Army soldier’s path to confirmation was no simple feat. Hegseth faced primary criticism from members of the Senate GOP in addition to a relentless media stain operation involving anonymous accusations and pathetic hit pieces.
Days after Trump tapped him to direct the Pentagon, Trump world solutions told The Federalist that Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, was leading a behind-the-scenes plan to cylinder Hegseth’s election. This included Ernst making phone calls to Trump to persuade him to chuck Hegseth and enlisting Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., to entrance the president-elect to remove Hegseth with Ernst.
Both Ernst and Graham , changed , their , tunes , on Hegseth’s election following The Federalist’s monitoring and later conservative reaction. Both GOP lawmakers voted in favor of Hegseth’s assurance on Friday.
]READ: Why Pete Hegseth Is The Right Man To Run The Pentagon ]
For all the hurdles in his way, Hegseth enjoyed widespread support from America’s former group. Leading up to his assurance reading, more than 100 past service members and other supporters rallied in Washington, D. C. to promote Senate Republicans to support his election.
” These are warfighters. That’s who support ]s ] Pete. That’s who’s on this floor. These are the men and women who sacrificed their lives for our nation. And they’re telling you the way it is”, Navy SEAL former Bill Brown , said during a Jan. 13 media event.
Marco Rubio as secretary of state and John Ratcliffe as chairman of the CIA are another Trump officials that the Senate has confirmed this year.
Shawn Fleetwood is a student of the University of Mary Washington and a team author for The Federalist. He previously served as a condition content writer for Agreement of States Action and his work has been featured in various stores, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Following him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
