The president told reporters Friday that he was “surprised” that the moderate and occasionally Trump-critical Republican senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins intended to vote against former Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth’s nominee to head the Defense Department.
When Trump told reporters, “I was very surprised that Collins and Murkowski would do that,”
The president also suggested that Mitch McConnell, the former Senate Majority Leader and a Republican from Kentucky who has occasionally had a tense relationship with Trump, would abstain from voting in today’s eagerly awaited vote.
“Of course Mitch is always a no vote I think,” the president stated before his question to reporters was, “Is Mitch a no vote? What about Mitch?
McConnell has not publicly stated his vote on Hegseth’s nomination, but he supported a procedural motion to put Hegseth’s nomination to a final vote along with a number of other Republican senators who have voiced concerns about Hegseth, including Sens. Todd Young of Indiana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.
Collins of Maine and Murkowski of Alaska voted against that procedural move.
When NBC News asked McConnell’s office representatives how he would vote in tonight’s final confirmation vote, they did not reply.
Hegseth can afford to lose only three Republican votes because every Senate Democrat has said that they will vote against his candidacy. Vice President JD Vance might then vote to break the deadlock. However, Hegseth would not be confirmed as the head of the Defense Department if four or more Republican senators voted against him.
Since Trump announced his intention to nominate Hegseth in November, obstacles have stood in his way of confirmation.
By early December, news reports detailing Hegseth’s reported history of drinking, including on the job at Fox News, caused many of the six Republican senators to become apprehensive, casting doubt on the idea that he would continue to be considered for the position.
Hegseth’s alleged mistreatment of women, including his acknowledged adultery and the disclosure that he settled a 2017 sexual assault accusation against a woman, also caused them concern.
Combat veteran Hegseth has strongly refuted the claims of sexual assault, claiming the encounter was consensual and that he was never charged with it. Additionally, he has denied having a drinking problem. In a December interview with Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM, he promised to give up alcohol if he is confirmed as the Defense secretary.
He assured Kelly, “This is the biggest deployment of my life, and I won’t have a drop of alcohol on my lips while I’m doing it.”
Democratic senators on the Armed Services Committee questioned Hegseth about the accusations against him during a confirmation hearing earlier this month, portraying him as unqualified to hold the job for which he was nominated. His inexperience in managing a sizable corporation and his alleged financial mishandling of two nonprofit veterans organizations were additional points of worry, which he has rejected, stating that he is proud of the work he has done for veterans.
Nevertheless, Trump’s nominee easily passed a committee vote thanks to the Republicans on the committee standing up for him.
New worries about Hegseth surfaced earlier this week after senators obtained an affidavit from Hegseth’s ex-sister-in-law, who said that his actions during his second marriage made his ex-wife worry for her safety.
The top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement that “Mr. Hegseth’s alleged pattern of abuse and misconduct is disturbing.” Any service member who engages in such behavior would be ineligible to serve in any military leadership role, much less be appointed Secretary of Defense.
The claim was refuted in a statement by Hegseth’s attorney, Tim Parlatore, who said that the nominee’s ex-wife “has never alleged that there was any abuse, she signed court documents acknowledging that there was no abuse and recently reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview.”
Hegseth’s ex-wife responded, “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer,” in an email message sent to NBC News earlier this week. “There was no physical abuse in my marriage,” she stated later.
In a 2021 court filing, Hegseth and his ex-wife stated that neither of them had reported experiencing domestic violence.