Despite a contentious confirmation hearing where Democrats beclowned themselves and some 11th-hour dramatics, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 51-50 vote Friday night.
As RedState detailed earlier, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) sparked concern late in the day Friday after it was reported that he might be waffling on his support of Hegseth.
In the end, however, Tillis did vote in favor of Hegseth’s confirmation, issuing a statement on social media afterward in which he said in part that, “Pete has a unique perspective as a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is unquestionably passionate about modernizing our military and supporting the brave patriots like himself who serve our nation.”
The three Republicans who voted “no” were Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and former Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
SEE ALSO: Sparks Fly on CNN After Washington Post Columnist Denigrates Pete Hegseth’s Military Service
After Tillis’ vote made it an even 50-50 split, it was on Vice President JD Vance to cast the tie-breaking vote for Hegseth. As we reported, Vance – who was a Senator before becoming Trump’s VP – quipped on the Twitter/X machine just minutes before his vote about how “I thought I was done voting in the senate” and included the LOL emoticon in his tweet.
Others on the popular social media platform also weighed in with some hilarious responses to the news that Vance would be the deciding vote, some of which were of course WWE-themed:
JD Vance coming out to break the tie and give us Hegseth. pic.twitter.com/1pSjYWGp3p
— Orpheus (@Antoine01686702) January 25, 2025
JD Vance showing up to the Senate to cast the vote that confirms Pete Hegseth. pic.twitter.com/FFaOTUTIFr
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 25, 2025
BY GOD THATS JD VANCES MUSIC https://t.co/Xra1TFQRfm pic.twitter.com/iZXOp9neal
— Magills (@magills_) January 25, 2025
JD Vance when there’s a tie vote in the Senate… pic.twitter.com/zNFLdlbxIt
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 25, 2025
JD Vance walking into the Senate to cast the tie-breaking vote for Pete Hegseth pic.twitter.com/41PfGJI8lx
— Marie Arf 🇺🇸 🟦🎗️🇮🇱 (@schwingcat) January 25, 2025
Hegseth vote is currently 50-50. JD Vance on his way to cast the deciding vote. pic.twitter.com/YKUDp2CpQl
— Publius (@Listener603) January 25, 2025
*Mitch McConnell votes against Pete Hegseth
JD Vance: pic.twitter.com/Wk64Cwvx6G
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 25, 2025
Also, I don’t think this was a real quote, but it would have been really cool if it was:
“Sir, the senate just voted 50/50 on Hegseth’s nomination.”
Vance: “say no more.” pic.twitter.com/qUf8z9LoTm
— Aaron Newborn (@_Aaron_Newborn) January 25, 2025
Never Trumpers and Senate Democrats, on the other hand, were melting down and rumored to be demanding struggle sessions.
In any event, props to Vice President Vance and congratulations to newly-minted Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth for standing strong and coming out victorious. There’s a lot of work to do going forward, but with leaders like Trump, Vance, and Hegseth, we do indeed stand the best chance ever to make America great – and its fighting forces respected worldwide – once again.
