Senate Majority John Thune (R-S.D.) has set up a vote to confirm former Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to become the next secretary of defense under President Donald Trump.
The Hill reported Tuesday that Senate Republicans are pressing forward with Hegseth’s nomination despite an affidavit obtained by Senate Democrats from his former sister-in-law that mysteriously showed up this week after Hegseth was successfully voted out of the Armed Services Committee.
The document accuses him of struggling with alcohol abuse and being abusive toward his ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, though his ex-, in a brief statement released on Tuesday, has denied that Hegseth was ever violent towards her.
On Tuesday, Thune filed a motion to end debate on Hegseth’s nomination, which was advanced by the Senate Armed Services Committee in a party-line 14-13 vote just hours after Trump was sworn into office.
This sets the stage for a Senate vote to advance Hegseth’s nomination on Thursday, with a final confirmation vote expected on Friday or possibly early Saturday morning.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) informed reporters that Republicans are prepared to continue working through the weekend to confirm him. “The next would be on cloture, and that would be Thursday afternoon,” Wicker told reporters Tuesday.
Wicker dismissed the affidavit claiming that Samantha Hegseth once hid in her closet out of fear for her safety from the nominee.
“I have not reviewed the document. My reaction is that I have grave doubts as to the substance,” he said, pointing to Samatha’s own statement that there was no “physical abuse” during her marriage. “I think the nomination is going to go forward and the next vote is going to be Thursday,” he said.
Wicker added that Democrats could delay a final vote on Hegseth until “late on Friday night.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a retired Air Force lawyer and a key Republican voice on national security matters, dismissed the latest allegation.