President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that he was “surprised” Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins — both moderates and sometime critics of Trump — planned to vote against former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Defense Department.
“I was very surprised that Collins and Murkowski would do that,” Trump told reporters.
The president also hinted that former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has had at times a contentious relationship with Trump, could vote no in today’s highly anticipated vote.
“Of course Mitch is always a no vote I guess,” the president said before asking reporters, “Is Mitch a no vote? How about Mitch?”
President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press as he and first lady Melania Trump prepare to depart the White House aboard Marine One on Friday.Kent Nishimura / Getty Images
McConnell has not publicly revealed how he’ll vote on Hegseth’s nomination, but he and several other Republican senators who have expressed reservations about Hegseth — including Sens. Todd Young of Indiana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia — voted for a procedural motion to advance Hegseth’s nomination to a final vote.
Murkowski, of Alaska, and Collins, of Maine, voted against that procedural step.
Representatives for McConnell’s office did not respond to NBC News’ questions about how he plans to vote in tonight’s final confirmation vote.
With all Senate Democrats signaling that they plan to vote against his nomination, Hegseth can afford to lose just three Republican votes. In that case, Vice President JD Vance could cast a tie-breaking vote. But if four or more GOP senators vote no on Hegseth, he would not be confirmed to lead the Defense Department.
Hegseth’s path to confirmation has faced hurdles since Trump said in November that he intended to nominate him.
By early December, the notion that he would remain in the running for the job was in doubt, when as many of six Republican senators grew concerned over news reports that detailed Hegseth’s alleged history of drinking, including on the job at Fox News.
They also worried about Hegseth’s alleged treatment of women, including his admitted infidelity and the revelation that he paid off a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017.
Hegseth, a combat veteran, has vehemently denied the allegations of sexual assault, which he was never charged over, and has said the encounter was consensual. He also has denied that he has a drinking problem, and in interview with Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM in December, he vowed to stop drinking if he is confirmed as Defense secretary.
“This is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won’t be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I’m doing it,” he told Kelly.
Pete Hegseth at Capitol Hill on Jan. 14.Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
At a confirmation hearing earlier this month, Democratic senators on the Armed Services Committee grilled Hegseth about the allegations against him and painted him as unfit to serve in the position for which he was nominated. They also raised concerns about his lack of experience running a large organization and his alleged financial mismanagement of a pair of nonprofit veterans groups, which he also has denied, saying he’s proud of the work he has done for veterans.
Still, Republicans on the committee defended Trump’s nominee and he sailed through a committee vote.
Earlier this week, fresh concerns about Hegseth emerged as senators received an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, who alleged that his behavior during his second marriage caused his then-wife to fear for her safety.
In a statement, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee said “the alleged pattern of abuse and misconduct by Mr. Hegseth is disturbing. This behavior would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.”
Hegseth’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, denied the allegation in a statement, saying the nominee’s former wife “has never alleged that there was any abuse, she signed court documents acknowledging that there was no abuse and recently reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview.”
In a statement emailed to NBC News earlier this week, Hegseth’s ex-wife said, “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer.” She later added, “There was no physical abuse in my marriage.”
Hegseth and his former wife signed a 2021 court document that said neither parent claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.
Frank Thorp V, Julie Tsirkin, Sarah Fitzpatrick and Courtney Kube contributed.
