After a long, chaotic, and tense nomination process that came down to the wire, Pete Hegseth has been confirmed by the United States Senate as the next Secretary of Defense.
Hegseth's nomination came late Friday night. The final vote in the chamber ended in a deadlock at 50-50, as three Republicans voted against Hegseth's nomination. Vice President JD Vance, who is the President of the Senate, gave the tiebreaking vote to officially confirm Hegseth's nomination.
It is just the second time in history a VP has had the deciding vote in a nomination.
Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins both voted against Hegseth. IN a surprise turn, South Carolina's Mitch McConnell also voted against Hegseth, after voting for him previously in the procedural vote this week.
More senate confirmation hearings are set for next week.
Photo: Getty Images North America
