A senator told Hegseth: "I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations."

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

Vance had not been on the senate floor during the vote. It wasn't until three GOP senators voted against Hegseth's nomination that he made his way to the Capitol to cast the tie-breaking vote

Vice President J.D. Vance was on hand to cast a tie-breaking vote, unusual in the Senate for Cabinet nominees, who typically win wider support.

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.

The Senate’s 50-50 vote for Pete Hegseth marked the second time in history that a vice president was called upon to break the tie to confirm a Cabinet official.

The Senate just barely confirmed Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary last week. Mitch McConnell’s vote against him in particular could spell trouble for Trump's shakiest nominees, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr,

Pete Hegseth has shown no evidence of being capable of managing the Pentagon behemoth.

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.

President Donald Trump's second White House is looking a lot like the inside of Mar-a-Lago, with extremely wealthy Americans taking key roles in his Republican administration.

Murkowski issued a statement on X earlier Wednesday similarly denouncing the pardons, calling the Capitol Police officers the “backbone of Congress.” She was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial over the riot.