What occurred
Most of President Donald Trump’s profitable Cupboard nominees to this point — together with, as of Monday night, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — have been confirmed by comfy margins. However Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth squeaked by 51 to 50, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the second-ever tie-breaking vote for a Cupboard secretary.
Sen. Thom Tillis solid the deciding vote Friday evening after telling Hegseth’s former sister-in-law he would oppose the nomination, The Wall Road Journal reported Monday.
Who mentioned what
Tillis (R-N.C.) “personally assured Danielle Hegseth” that if she signed a sworn assertion “testifying that she believed her former brother-in-law” has “an alcohol abuse drawback and was abusive to his second spouse, it could carry weight, and probably transfer three votes” — his and people of Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the Journal mentioned, citing two different witnesses to the reported dialog.
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Danielle Hegseth relayed her allegations in a sworn affidavit, saying she was doing so solely as a result of she had been “assured” the general public assertion would “make sure that sure senators who’re nonetheless on the fence will vote in opposition to Hegseth’s affirmation.” Murkowski, Collins and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted no. Tillis advised the Journal her testimony “did carry weight,” however after “days doing my due diligence” and talking with Pete Hegseth, he was “not in a position to converse with anybody who supplied firsthand corroboration.”
What subsequent?
Hegseth had his first full day on the Pentagon Monday, previewing a collection of government orders Trump issued Monday evening, together with the precursors to a ban on transgender troops and a space-based missile protection system.
