Senate to vote on Minnesota native Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as soon as Friday night

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate was set to decide as soon as Friday night whether to confirm Forest Lake native Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, bringing an end to what has been a tumultuous path to confirmation that unearthed salacious details about his past along the way.

During a confirmation hearing this month, the former Fox News host and Army veteran, pitched himself as a change agent who would restore what he called a “warrior culture” to the Pentagon — a pitch that Republicans on and off the Senate Armed Services Committee welcomed.

But Democrats say they do not believe Hegseth has what it takes to lead a department that employs 3.4 million service members and civil servants, and operates an annual defense budget of $840 billion.

They have raised concerns about his past remarks that women should not serve in combat and contended that allegations he mismanaged a veterans group he once led, drank excessively and sexually assaulted a woman, made him unqualified for the job.

They also have argued that a proper FBI background check was not conducted and expressed frustration that he refused to meet with most Democrats before his confirmation hearing, preventing them from questioning him further on his qualifications.

“Mr. Hegseth, if confirmed, will not improve our military but destabilize it and weaken the institution,” Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday.

“During his hearing, Mr. Hegseth failed to convince me and many of my colleagues that he is capable of running any organization remotely as complex as the Department of Defense,” said Reed, one of the only Democrats to have met with the nominee before his confirmation hearing.

In 2019, Minnesota’s Democratic Sen. Tina Smith voted to confirm Mark Esper as President Donald Trump’s defense secretary, but heading into Friday’s possible vote, she said she could not support Hegseth.

Smith said her fellow Minnesotan lacked the “character and competence to meet this moment’s global security challenges.”

“I voted for President Trump’s previous secretary of defense, Mark Esper and believe that the president deserves to choose his Cabinet,” she said. “However, my main priority is making sure Minnesotans and the United States are safe and secure.

“Nothing from his hearing or the damning reports about his conduct have led me to believe he is up to the task.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who opposed Esper in 2019, also plans to vote against Hegseth.

“I respect Pete Hegseth’s service to our country as an Army National Guard veteran, but I have serious concerns about some of his past conduct and his past statements on issues like women serving in combat,” Klobuchar said.

Republican Sens. Lisa Mukowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joined Democrats in opposing him Thursday in a 51-49 procedural vote. Their votes came after Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said in a sworn statement to senators that the nominee was abusive to his second wife.

But it was unclear whether more Republicans would join Murkowski and Collins in the final vote.

After Thursday’s vote, another revelation came to light: Hegseth paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017.

If four Republicans and all Democrats vote against Hegseth, his confirmation would be blocked.

It had initially looked as if Hegseth might not survive the confirmation process as reports about his past dominated the headlines.

But by the end of the first week of December, he had won Trump’s public support and began ramping up meetings with senators. Around the same time Norm Coleman, Minnesota’s last Republican senator, stepped into the picture.

Those who know Coleman say he may have played a role in Hegseth earning credibility among his former Senate colleagues, especially fellow moderate Republicans, as he remained a constant fixture at the Minnesota native’s side through the confirmation process.

“Norm deserves a lot of credit for helping to reverse that momentum and put him back in a position where, I think today, most people think he’s going to get confirmed,” former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber, a close friend of Coleman, said in an interview in December.

Coleman described Hegseth as a “son of Minnesota” and an “out-of-the-box nominee,” who could bring a new approach to leading the Pentagon when he introduced him during his confirmation hearing before the Senate panel.

“Pete was a brave soldier, has been an able communicator, and I believe is about to begin a great second act as our secretary of defense,” Coleman said. “He has struggled and he has overcome great personal challenges. Please don’t give in to the cynical notion that people can’t change.”