Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who stepped down from the leadership at the end of last year, cast a surprise vote Friday night against Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s controversial nominee to head the Department of Defense.
McConnell’s vote came as a surprise after he voted Thursday night to advance Hegseth’s nomination to a final vote.
The veteran Kentucky lawmaker played his cards close to the vest and didn’t say anything as he walked into the chamber.
Asked by reporters whether he would support Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, he only raised his eyebrows in a mysterious gesture.
McConnell joined fellow Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in opposing Hegseth on the final vote — forcing Vice President Vance to show up at the Senate chamber to cast the tie-breaking vote to get the embattled nominee across the finish line.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) hinted before the vote that there might be some late-night drama.
Asked if Hegseth had the votes, Wicker said: “I think we’ll probably need to see the vice president.”
Hegseth’s nomination met with objections from Collins and Murkowski as well as many senior Democrats about his lack of managerial experience.
As secretary of Defense, he will be in charge of 3 million employees and an $850 million annual budget.
Hegseth had faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in Monterery, California, in 2017, that he mismanaged the finances of two veterans’ groups that he led, and that he would get drunk at work events and while wearing a military uniform.
Hegseth has promised Republican senators he would stop drinking if confirmed as secretary of Defense.
