The Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday voted to advance Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of Defense, to the floor.
The 14-13 vote was strictly along party lines.
Senators on the Armed Services panel also voted to waive the seven-day rule that usually requires at least a week to elapse between a nominee’s confirmation hearing and a vote to discharge from committee.
Senate Republicans then held a separate vote to advance Hegseth’s nomination.
Hegseth is one of Trump’s most high-profile nominees, and his confirmation hearing last week featured some fireworks as Democrats went on the attack.
Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), a Democrat on the committee, called the Monday vote “disappointing.”
“It’s extremely disappointing, for a couple of reasons. One, we think there’s some additional information that’s likely to come out in the next few days that could be very troubling. I think people have a right to know what that is,” he said.
“And, two, I believe all of my [Democratic] colleagues requested meetings with Mr. Hegseth. Certainly, my schedule was wide open. We said, ‘Give us a time. We’re willing to meet, whenever it works for you.’ And we never got a response,” he said.
Hegseth met with Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Armed Services panel but not with any other Democrats on the committee.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), another member of the panel, argued that Republicans shouldn’t have waived the customary seven-day rule since Hegseth only met with one Democrat on the committee.
“He did not do the courtesy to meet with the minority members but the majority voted to waive it anyway,” he said.
“This is isn’t over until we get to the floor,” he said. “I’m energized.”
The strong opposition to Hegseth expressed by Democrats on the Armed Services panel signals they will use many of the procedural tools at their disposal to slow his confirmation on the Senate floor.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), another Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, criticized Hegseth Monday for stock his wife holds in two major Department of Defense contractors.
“Given your household’s ownership of stock in several defense contractors and your unwillingness at your confirmation hearing to commit to post-employment restrictions, I am concerned that you will enter this role with serious conflicts of interest,” Warren wrote in a letter to Hegseth.
Republicans appear confident Hegseth will get enough Republican votes to win confirmation later this month.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told NBC’s “Today” in an interview that all of Trump’s Cabinet nominees “have a path to get” to confirmation.
Updated at 6:06 p.m.
