Pete Hegseth was confirmed as secretary of defense by the smallest possible margin, 51-50. Politico did some digging and talked to a bunch of people about how this happened. It almost didn't, because Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is up in 2026 and may have to face popular former governor Roy Cooper, was worried that a "no" vote would sink him. The pressure that was exerted on him and others to get him to "yes" was enormous.
Tillis was upset by Hegseth's history of drunkenness, sexual assault, and lack of any leadership experience. The job of the secretary isn't so much to fight wars. The Joint Chiefs handle that. The secretary's job is to think about America's long-term defense needs and to referee disputes. Suppose the Army wants to design a brand new invincible remote-controlled tank and order 500 of them, the Navy wants a few nifty new aircraft carriers with the latest laser-powered anti-drone weaponry, and the Air Force wants a fleet of supersonic stealth bombers, but the budget allows only one service to get what it wants. Who wins? Answering that is the secretary's job. Hegseth is totally incapable of long-range planning for the Armed Forces. Tillis understood that. He wanted the Senate to kill the vote and the nomination. That's when an incredible 24-hour pressure campaign revved up. No stone was left unturned, on all fronts.
One team worked reporters who had reported on Hegseth's past to punish them and make sure they never did it again, in part due to death threats. Another went after the people who had tried to discredit Hegseth and have them recant their accusations. Still another bullied the Democrats. Yet another let loose a squad of Internet MAGA goons to bully not only Tillis, but other senators who might be privately encouraging him to vote they way they wanted to, but were afraid to vote against him themselves. The women who had accused Hegseth of sexual assault were kindly informed that talking to reporters or Democrats would not be a wise thing to do. Ditto for the whistleblower who leaked the fact that Hegseth has mismanaged the one little group he once ran. And of course, the MAGA apparatus was hurling "RINO" accusations at Tillis on every outlet they could and threatening to primary him.
When nothing seemed to be working, John Thune talked to Tillis to try to cajole/bully him into getting to "yes." Tillis still wanted to cancel the vote, to spare all Republicans the pain and also to spare him from a vote that the Democrats are going to put front and center in 2026, especially, in the event that Hegseth screws up or another, bigger scandal, comes to light this year or next. No matter what, Tillis still wanted to scrap the vote. Thune refused, thus forcing Tillis to vote on it. Donald Trump also worked Tillis by calling him repeatedly.
Another factor that Team Hegseth thought might influence Tillis was the opinion of Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). The feeling was that if a combat veteran and rape survivor and one of the two senators fighting to eliminate sexual assault in the military (along with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY) supported Hegseth, Tillis would cave. Ernst was quickly informed that unless she quickly supported Hegseth, Iowa AG Brenna Bird (R) would primary her and Elon Musk would make sure Bird had enough money to buy every commercial slot on every TV station in all of Iowa for a year. Ernst caved. So did Tillis, although now he has to worry even more about 2026. In the end, the pressure was too much.
This process represents a paradigm shift. The standard rules of politics have never applied to Telfon Don, but they did apply to people around him. Former HHS Secretary Tom Price was forced out for jetting around on private jets funded by the taxpayers. Former NSA Michael Flynn was fired for lying about his contacts with Russia. And more. Trump is now able to protect people he wants to serve him, no matter how bad they are or what that have done. His forcefield seems to have been extended to protect others within its range. (V)