Maine, breaks with party to vote against Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for Defense Secretary. Can he still get confirmed?

Maine's independent senator joins Democrats in voting against the Trump nominee over concerns about his answers regarding the rules of international warfare.

Pete Hegseth was confirmed after Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote in support of his nomination. See how your senators voted.

The US Senate on Friday approved Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trump’s defense secretary by a razor-thin margin, in which, Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law that a sworn statement about his alleged alcohol abuse and abuse of his second wife could convince senators—himself included—to oppose Hegseth’s confirmation as secretary of defense,

Jon “Tracer” Treacy, who briefly ran for U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 2019, said Trump’s choice for defense secretary, former television news host Pete Hegseth, lacks the character, experience and integrity to serve in such a crucial role in the government.

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.

Pete Hegseth has vowed to bring his “warrior” ethos to the Pentagon. Democrats had assailed him as unfit for the job, and his confirmation came down to Vice President JD Vance serving as tiebreaker.

Pete Hegseth cleared a procedural hurdle Thursday for a final Senate vote to advance his confirmation to lead the Department of Defense, setting up a high-stakes showdown.

Vice President Vance cast a tie-breaking vote as Hegseth overcame allegations of sexual assault, public drunkenness and questions of financial mismanagement to win Senate approval.

The nominee can only afford to lose three GOP senators if Democrats unite against him so attention could now shift to Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and other potential swing votes.

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