Republican Senators oppose Hegseth confirmation

Two Republican members of the U.S. Senate actually voted against the confirmation of Pete Hegseth on Thursday.  

To be clear, this was not the final confirmation vote for Hegseth. Rather, it was the vote to advance his confirmation.

Fox News reports that, despite the Republican defections, Hegseth still got the go-ahead.

This means that Hegseth, one of President Donald Trump's most controversial nominations, is one step closer to becoming the next leader of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Hegseth just barely gets by.

Fox reports that, on Thursday, the full Senate voted in favor of a motion to invoke cloture. What this means, essentially, is that Hegseth's confirmation is now up for the entire Senate to debate.

The vote was a closer one: 51 to 49. This is not that surprising, given that the Republicans only have a 53 to 47 majority in the upper chamber. We should expect many close votes over the next couple of years.

As mentioned earlier, there were two Senate Republicans who voted against moving forward with Hegseth's nomination. They are U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

This is also not that surprising. Pro-Trump Republicans know that these two Republican Senators have voted against Trump in the past and the likelihood is that they will continue to do so going forward.

Murkowski, in a statement, explained:

Given the global security environment we’re operating in, it is critical that we confirm a Secretary of Defense, however, I regret that I am unable to support Mr. Hegseth.

Looking forward

The big question now, of course, is whether Hegseth is going to have the votes to actually be confirmed by the Senate. The answer is unclear.

Murkowski, among others, has made it clear that one of the reasons why she is opposing Hegseth's nomination is because of "allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking."

Fox reports:

Hegseth’s nomination was dealt another hurdle this week when reports emerged that his ex-sister-in-law alleged that Hegseth had abused his second wife. Two sources told CNN Hegseth’s ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, gave a statement to the FBI about Hegseth’s alleged alcohol use. The outlet said one of the sources said Samantha Hegseth told the FBI, "He drinks more often than he doesn’t."

Hegseth has denied these allegations, vehemently. Also, it is worth pointing out two things: Samantha Hegseth has denied the allegations and Danielle Hegseth has admitted that she has never witnessed any of the alleged actions herself.

We should learn more about Hegseth's chances of being confirmed in the coming days.