Pete Hegseth has been confirmed as Secretary of Defense by the US Senate. Hegseth ended up benefiting from the Matt Gaetz situation – Gaetz was originally Donald Trump’s choice for Attorney General, but Gaetz has a long history of soliciting sex from teenagers and being an unrepentant sleaze, so even Republicans felt comfortable saying “nah, not this one” on Gaetz. Hegseth ended up slipping right through for the most part, and I doubt most people even know that he was credibly accused of drugging and raping a woman in 2017, and that his victim tried to get him criminally charged, and he ended up settling out of court with her. He’s also on his third marriage, having cheated on his previous two wives, and even his mother thinks he’s an abuser. Did I mention he also has significant alcoholism issues? That too. Don’t forget about the white supremacy and weird white nationalist tattoos either. Surprisingly, a handful of Republican senators voted “no” on Hegseth’s confirmation. Mitch McConnell was one of the “no” votes. Long story short, JD Vance was the tiebreaking vote.
Pete Hegseth was sworn in as the defense secretary on Saturday morning by Vice President JD Vance after the Senate narrowly confirmed Mr. Hegseth the night before. The Trump pick survived a bruising struggle with Democrats who decried him as unqualified and unfit to oversee the country’s 1.3 million active duty troops and the Pentagon’s nearly $850 billion budget.
Vice President Vance had to cast a tiebreaking vote to confirm Mr. Hegseth, after three Republicans — Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — joined all Democrats in opposition.
The final vote, 51 to 50, was the smallest margin for a defense secretary’s confirmation since the position was created in 1947, according to Senate records.
Mr. Hegseth, a military veteran and a former Fox News host, has vowed to bring his self-described “warrior” ethos to the Defense Department, which he says has been made weak by “woke” generals and diversity programs.
Republican leaders embraced that outlook as they cheered his confirmation.
“Peace through strength is back under President Trump and Pete Hegseth,” Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and the chairman of the armed services panel, said in a statement after Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation, adding: “We cannot wait another minute to rebuild our military might and put the war-fighter first.”
But Democrats, who unanimously opposed Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation, promised to continue their scrutiny of him.
“I am going to watch him like a hawk,” Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the armed services panel, said in a statement, adding: “I will point out where we disagree. I will demand accountability.”
Mr. Hegseth’s selection by President Trump and the confirmation process were complicated by a claim of sexual assault and accusations of abusive behavior, public drunkenness and fiscal mismanagement of two nonprofit veterans groups. In a sworn statement submitted to the Senate on Tuesday, a former sister-in-law of Mr. Hegseth’s described him as frequently intoxicated and “abusive” toward his second wife. Mr. Hegseth, 44, has denied the account, along with other allegations that have dogged his nomination.
Yeah, I don’t know what to say here. The only “interesting” thing of note is that before Trump and his cult of personality, the Republican Party always branded itself as pro-military, everything rah-rah-militarism and bloated Pentagon budgets. In his first term, Trump only liked having military people around him for the optics, but he actually didn’t care about the military or national defense or military preparedness or any of that. That will get worse in this term, especially with Hegseth at the helm of DOD. I was going to paint a vivid picture of how bad it will get, but you know what? I won’t bother. I’m sure it will surprise everyone and the media will expect us to react with outrage and tears as Hegseth launches Operation Make Greenland Great Again.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
