Nearly eight years ago, another Trump administration cabinet secretary narrowly escaped her confirmation vote, advancing only after the vice president’s tie-breaker vote.
That nominee was Betsy DeVos, a wealthy Republican donor with almost no experience in public education who had been confirmed to lead the Department of Education.
On February 7, 2017, two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, opposed Mr. Trump’s nomination and voted against him. But without a third Republican to join her ranks, Ms. Davis was ultimately confirmed on a 51 to 50 vote.
It was the first time a vice president – ​​in this case, Vice President Mike Pence – had been summoned to the Capitol to break a deal on a Cabinet nomination.
On Friday, Pat Hegseth became the second person to be confirmed as a cabinet secretary when Vice President J.D. Vance cast the deciding vote, ensuring he would be the next defense secretary. Ms. Murkowski and Ms. Collins also voted against him, along with Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky.
Democrats argued that allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse, public drunkenness and financial mismanagement of two nonprofit veterans’ groups had disqualified Mr. Hegseth from overseeing the nation’s 1.3 million active-duty troops and the Pentagon’s roughly $850 billion budget. made incompetent and incompetent.
