Pete Hegseth was sworn in Saturday morning as Trump’s Secretary of Defense following a nailbiter vote on the Senate Floor.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, the Senate voted on confirmation of Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary Friday night.
RINO Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) on Thursday voted against advancing Hegseth’s nomination to a final floor vote.
RINO Mitch McConnell (R-KY) then joined his fellow RINOs voting against Hegseth Friday, teeing up a tiebreaker vote by Vice President JD Vance. Vance was the tiebreaker, voting in favor of Hegseth’s nomination.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Trump ignored McConnell and the other irrelevant RINOs and in his response to Hegseth’s confirmation. “Winning is what matters, right?” said Trump.
Hegseth posted a statement late Friday night on X, thanking Trump, Vance, the 50 Senators who voted for him, the troops, and America. "America First. Every day. We will never back down," he added.
Thank you for your confidence Mr. President.
Thank you for the tie-breaker Mr. Vice President.
Thank you Senators for 50 votes.
This is for the troops. For the warriors. For our country.
America First. Every day. We will never back down.
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) January 25, 2025
Hegseth was joined by his family on Friday night.
We did it, America.
It was an honor to be in the fight with my friend, and your SecDef: @PeteHegseth.
The Hegseth family is the best!! pic.twitter.com/b3P54fOCRC
— Markwayne Mullin (@SenMullin) January 25, 2025
Hegseth spoke out on Saturday after he was sworn in. He thanked God first, his wife, and then the President and Vice President for this opportunity to serve. Hegseth also noted that his children, who were watching from the Senate gallery, described the victory as an "overtime" win, noting, "That's the perspective I like."
Watch below:
Hegseth: All praise and glory to God, His will be done, and we're grateful to be here. And as I said in my hearing, it was Jesus and Jenny. I would not be here without you, sweetheart. Thank you so much.
I want to thank the President United States, our Commander in Chief, Donald Trump. We could not have a better Commander in Chief than him. It is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you. We look forward to having the backs of our troops and having your back in executing peace through strength, in putting America first, and in rebuilding our military.
Mr. Vice President, thank you for breaking the tie. It's not the last time or not the first time, the headline reads, “Junior enlisted Marine bails out Junior Army officer.” And you know, some people were saying, well, 50-50, that's too tight. And Senator Mark Wayne Mullen was nice enough to take my kids up to the gallery to watch the actual moment that the Vice President sealed the deal. And they came running in. They said, Dad, instead of being sad about 51 to 50, they said, “Dad, you won in overtime!” That's the perspective I like, so thank you.
