Pete Hegseth confirmed in rather strange fashion
After Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins announced they were voting “no” on Pete Hegseth, it wasn’t clear how things would play out. Two additional Republican Senators would need to vote against him in order for the nomination to sink. As it turned out just one additional Republican Senator, Mitch McConnell of all people, voted against Hegseth. It resulted in a 50-50 tie, which was broken by JD Vance, thus allowing Hegseth to be confirmed.
It served as a sobering reminder that this Republican Senate is going to give Donald Trump at least some of what he wants. They rejected the Matt Gaetz nomination, but they ultimately rubber stamped the Pete Hegseth nomination.
Here’s the thing, though. If we had managed to apply just a bit more pressure and had gotten just one more Republican Senator to vote against Hegseth, his nomination would have failed. So let’s not get into this defeatist mindset that the Senate is just going to rubber stamp every Trump nominee. They bounced Gaetz, they came within one vote of bouncing Hegseth, and some of the remaining nominees appear to be in more confirmation trouble than Hegseth ever was.
Also, it’s worth noting that for all his bipartisan rhetoric of late, Democratic Senator John Fetterman ended up voting “no” on Hegseth in the end, as we expected. This suggests that Fetterman’s rhetoric really is just talk aimed at allowing him to get reelected in Pennsylvania, and that Fetterman will indeed vote with us when it counts.
With Murkowski and Collins eager to insulate themselves against any Trump nominee that’s too controversial, and McConnell seemingly voting against Trump nominees out of pure spite, it suggests we’re just one vote away from being able to defeat the likes of RFK Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, and so on. So let’s keep amplifying this and ramping up the pressure. Tonight’s vote is a sign that we can win at least some of these battles – if we keep fighting them.
