Why 'traditional Republican defense hawk' McConnell voted against Hegseth — regardless of Trump

28 January

On Friday night, January 24, Donald Trump nominee Pete Hegseth — despite being inundated with controversy — was narrowly confirmed as defense secretary in the U.S. Senate.

The vote was extremely close. In contrast to Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who enjoyed strong bipartisan support in a confirmation vote — Hegseth was universally opposed by Senate Democrats and independents who caucus with them. And three GOP senators joined them in that "no" vote: Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski.

But Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote in Hegseth's favor, and the former Fox News host now leads the Pentagon.

Slate's Jim Newell examines McConnell's vote against Hegseth in an article published on January 28, arguing that his primary motivation wasn't really the tensions between him and President Donald Trump, but rather, his views as a "traditional Republican defense hawk."

"In speeches, press conferences, interviews, and articles over the past year, (McConnell) has been explicit in saying that his focus is on repelling — or at least slowing down — the 'isolationist' elements overtaking his party," Newell observes. "He believes that the United States is under a concerted attack from Russia, China, Iran, and their proxies 'to undermine the U.S.-led order that has underpinned western peace and prosperity for nearly a century,' and has argued that the global situation is as 'dangerous' as it has been since the period before World War 2."

Newell adds, "To counter this, McConnell has called for substantial increases in defense spending and 'hard power'…. And so, Pete Hegseth, who was poached from a career in weekend television hosting, didn't strike McConnell as the sturdiest partner in this endeavor. In a lengthy, scathing statement following the vote, McConnell reiterated his view of the grave threats facing America, and why Republicans needed better than the nominee placed before them."

Hegseth, McConnell argued, failed to provide "substantial observations on how to defend Taiwan or the Philippines against a Chinese attack."

In 2024, the 82-year-old McConnell resigned as GOP leader in the U.S. Senate, although he plans to serve out the rest of his term. And Newell notes that McConnell, unlike many other Senate Republicans in the Senate, is unfazed by pressure from Trump.

"We'd venture that more than three Republican senators felt Hegseth's nomination was a joke," Newell writes. "Only three did anything about it."

Read Jim Newell's full Slate article at this link.

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