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WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled Senate is scheduled to vote Friday night on whether to confirm Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for defense secretary.
The vote is expected to be tight, with some uncertainty about where a few key Republicans in the 53-member caucus will land.
It comes one day after Hegseth’s nomination narrowly cleared a key procedural hurdle 51 to 49, with two Republicans — moderate Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine — voting with all Democrats to block him. They would need to be joined by at least two other Republicans in order to vote down his nomination.
Earlier Friday, Trump mentioned Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., unprompted and wondered aloud to reporters whether the former Senate Republican leader would ultimately support Hegseth.
“Of course Mitch is always a no vote I guess,” Trump said, before adding, “Is Mitch a no vote? How about Mitch?”
McConnell has not officially announced how he will vote on final confirmation. Another lawmaker in the same boat is Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who also voted Thursday to advance Hegseth’s nomination, but said Thursday he was “still examining the record” and doing “extensive due diligence” before arriving at a final decision.
It is uncommon for senators to switch from “yes” on a procedural vote to “no” on the confirmation vote , but it sometimes happens.
Trump also told reporters Friday he was “very surprised” that Collins and Murkowski opposed Hegseth.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who had a fiery exchange with Hegseth at his hearing, was holding out hope that Hegseth would fall short, while praising Murkowski’s “very comprehensive” statement about her opposition.
“If you look at the past, sometimes people strongly believe every Cabinet nominee should get a vote on the floor. So voting that somebody gets a vote on the floor is not the same thing as voting that they should be in the cabinet,” Kaine said. “It’s not often that people vote yes and then vote no, but it’s not, it’s not unheard of.”
Asked if he’s spoken to GOP colleagues about this topic in recent hours, Kaine replied: “I have, but I got to keep that to me.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., expressed confidence Hegseth would be confirmed on Thursday, although he said Vice President JD Vance should stay close in case he needs to break a 50-50 tie.
“If I were JD Vance, I’d stick around,” Wicker said.
Other Trump allies in the Senate praised Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor and Army combat veteran.
“You take a guy who’s served 20 years and he’s been in combat, he’ll take a warrior’s perspective. You don’t win fights with generals; you win fights with the guys down range, and he’s going to put us back in the fight,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., one of Hegseth’s chief defenders on Capitol Hill, told NBC News.
“He’s going to put the Defense Department focused on the fighters again” and shake things up, Mullin added. “That’s what the American people want and that’s what President Trump wants.”
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Speaking to reporters Friday, Collins said she had informed Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., of her opposition to Hegseth and had not personally heard from Trump. She said she stood by her decision.
“I made the right vote,” Collins said.
Hegseth’s nomination just last month appeared to be on the verge of collapse after multiple news reports detailed allegations of alcohol abuse, a sexual assault and the financial mismanagement of organizations that he led. Hegseth has denied all of these allegations.
NBC News reported in early December that Trump considered ditching Hegseth as his pick to lead the Pentagon and replacing him with his one-time rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Trump publicly stood by his defense pick, telling Hegseth to “keep fighting” as he navigated a gauntlet of tough meetings with senators last month.
At his Jan. 14 confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democrats zeroed in on his past controversies, as well as his past public comments that he opposed women serving in combat — a position he walked back at the hearing. The Armed Services panel narrowly voted along party lines, 14 to 13, to advance his nomination to the floor.
Still, even as his nomination marched forward, Hegseth, 44, has continued to face intense scrutiny in the days leading up to the final vote.
On Thursday, NBC News obtained answers Hegseth provided to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as part of the confirmation process showing that he had paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in a California hotel room in 2017. (The Associated Press was the first to report the settlement amount.)
Hegseth has said the encounter was consensual, and the district attorney in the case declined to press charges, saying that “no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
His lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, has said that Hegseth “strongly felt that he was the victim of blackmail” and that he “ultimately decided to enter into a settlement for a significantly reduced amount” at the “height of the MeToo movement.”
Earlier this week, NBC News reported that a former sister-in-law of Hegseth’s had said in a sworn affidavit, shared with senators, that he had demonstrated “erratic and aggressive behavior over many years” and had made his ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, “fear for her safety” while they were married.
The affidavit was submitted in response to a request for information from Sen. Jack Reed, of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. The existence of the affidavit was first reported by NBC News.
The ex-sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, said she “did not personally witness physical or sexual abuse by Hegseth.” Samantha Hegseth said in a previous tatement that there was no physical abuse during the marriage. A lawyer for his ex-wife did not respond to the previously unreported allegation.
Parlatore wrote in an email: “As NBC is well aware, the actual participant, Samantha has denied these false allegations, yet NBC continues to irresponsibly report false allegations by an uninvolved third party as if they were fact.”
In a floor speech before Friday’s vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argued that Hegseth was unqualified to lead the 2.8-million-person organization and urged Republicans to join Democrats in opposing Hegseth.
“The well-being of our troops stationed around the world is on the line with today’s vote, the very security of the American people, of our kids and families and neighbors and friends is on the line with today’s vote,” Schumer said. “In short, we should not, cannot, must not elevate someone as erratic as Pete Hegseth to secretary of defense, we can and must, must do better.”
Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill are trying to quickly get key members of his national security team in place. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio became the first Trump Cabinet pick to be confirmed by the Senate, where he had served for the past 14 years representing Florida. The vote was 99 to 0.
And on Thursday, the Senate voted to confirm John Ratcliffe as CIA director.
Thune has threatened to keep senators in Washington through the weekend unless they can reach agreement on a schedule on upcoming nominations.
After the Hegseth vote, the Senate will next consider the nominations of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump’s pick to be Homeland Security secretary, and investor Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary nominee.
Scott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.
Julie Tsirkin is a correspondent covering Capitol Hill.
Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.
Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.
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