There will be a lot on the plate for new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when he steps into his office on the Pentagon’s third floor E Ring.

Senators voted 51-49 to advance Hegseth's defense secretary bid, which has been mired in several controversies. Two Republicans oppose him.

Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell voted against confirming Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary. To Capitol insiders, their decisions weren’t surprising.

In “The War on Warriors,” published last year, the nominee to head the Pentagon lashes out at “social justice saboteurs” and other fellow Americans.

A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

After a few GOP senators, including McConnell, voted against Hegseth for defense secretary, the Senate narrowly voted to confirm him.

Senators vetting the nomination of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary received an affidavit from a former sister-in-law alleging that the onetime Fox News was abusive to his second wife to the point where she feared for her safety.

Vice President JD Vance was forced to step in after Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell broke ranks and voted against Hegseth.

Thanks to the tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, Pete Hegseth was confirmed as the Trump Administration’s Secretary of Defense.

By LISA MASCARO, MARY CLARE JALONICK and FARNOUSH AMIRI WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the nation’s defense secretary Friday in a dramatic late-night vote,

Presenter whose colleagues are in line to join the new cabinet says the US is in the midst of ‘political realignment’