President Donald Trump’s nomination to lead the Department of Defense is IN! It appears that Pete Hegseth has the votes needed to be confirmed! This comes after a key holdout voter announced that he will support Hegseth afteall.
This is HUGE for the Trump administration, and comes merely days before Trump is sworn into office!
Trending Politics reports:
Burgess Everett, the congressional bureau chief for the news outlet Semafor, reported Thursday that Senator John Curtis (R-UT) would be supporting Hegseth’s nomination. Curtis was previously named as a potential holdout when anonymously-sourced, unverified allegations of heavy drinking and sexual assault were levied against the Trump nominee last month.
🚨 #BREAKING: Sen. John Curtis (R-UT), who was previously on the fence, will be a YES for Pete Hegseth
LFG!!! 🔥
Pete Hegseth WILL be confirmed as Secretary of Defense pic.twitter.com/cqRiMdZggo
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 16, 2025
Despite being cleared of bogus sexual assault allegations, there were still numerous GOP senators who expressed “concern” over the reports. For example, Senator Joni Ernst declared that the allegations were “serious” and indicated that she could potentially be a holdout.
BREAKING: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst officially backs Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense after initial uncertainty.
Was someone worried about being 'primaried'? pic.twitter.com/Yw76DikNsr
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) January 15, 2025
However, on Tuesday, Ernst revealed that she would be voting to confirm Hegseth. This came after she received pressure from the Trump base as well as several Iowa Republicans declaring that they would challenge her if she did not support Hegseth.