尽管赫格塞斯的行为引发争议，但他在关键投票中被确认为特朗普的国防部长
【中美创新时报2025 年 1 月 25日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）参议院在周五晚些时候以戏剧性的决定性投票确认皮特·赫格塞斯为美国国防部长，在被指控酗酒和对女性有攻击性行为的情况下，驳斥了有关他是否有资格领导五角大楼的质疑。美联社记者LISA MASCARO 和 MARY CLARE JALONICK 对此作了下述报道。
内阁提名人很少像赫格塞斯一样面临如此广泛的担忧，尤其是对于美国军队中如此高调的角色。但共和党主导的参议院决心确认前福克斯新闻主持人、战斗老兵赫格塞斯，他誓言要带来“战士文化”，他将加入唐纳德·特朗普总统的国家安全内阁高级官员行列。
副总统 JD Vance 的到来打破了 50-50 的平局，这对于内阁提名人，尤其是国防部长来说，非常不寻常，因为他们通常会赢得更广泛的两党支持。赫格塞斯本人和家人一起在国会大厦。
“我们有一位伟大的国防部长，我们非常高兴，”特朗普在视察加州火灾灾情后登上空军一号时说道。
特朗普表示，他不在乎有影响力的前共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔参议员的反对意见——他与另外两名共和党人——阿拉斯加州参议员丽莎·穆尔科斯基和缅因州参议员苏珊·柯林斯——一起投票反对赫格塞斯——因为“重要的是获胜”。
尽管赫格塞斯面临一系列严重指控，但参议院仍能确认他的任命，这在一定程度上反映了特朗普的政治权力和从共和党领导的国会获得他想要的东西的能力，也反映了文化战争在白宫推动其议程的威力。
此前，副总统只在内阁提名人选上打破过一次僵局——在特朗普的第一任期内，副总统迈克·彭斯投票确认贝琪·德沃斯为教育部长。
下周，参议员们将面对特朗普的其他内阁外部人选，包括特朗普的盟友、公布敌人名单的卡什·帕特尔出任联邦调查局局长、国家情报办公室主任塔尔西·加巴德出任国家情报办公室主任，以及卫生与公众服务部反疫苗倡导者罗伯特·F·肯尼迪二世出任部长。
“皮特·赫格塞斯真的是我们能提供的最好的人选吗？”参议院军事委员会民主党领袖、罗德岛州参议员杰克·里德敦促他的同事认真考虑他们的投票。所有民主党人都反对提名人。
但参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩表示，赫格塞斯是陆军国民警卫队的一名老兵，曾在伊拉克和阿富汗服役，“将为最高军事职位带来战士的视角”。
图恩说：“分心的日子将一去不复返”，他指的是联邦政府正在削减的多样性、公平和包容性举措。“五角大楼的重点将放在战争上。”
赫格塞斯本人周五晚些时候打电话来争取支持，他的任命岌岌可危。
“他是个好人，”特朗普在离开白宫前往受灾的北卡罗来纳州和洛杉矶时谈到赫格塞斯时说。“我希望他能成功。”
这种不确定性导致国会大厦周五晚间的紧张局势飙升。确认提名人只需简单多数，而共和党在参议院以 53 比 47 的多数票通过，在穆尔科斯基和柯林斯已经宣布投反对票后，他们只能再输一次反对票。
麦康奈尔在早些时候的一次演讲中表示怀疑，当时他宣布将确认高级国家安全职位的提名人，“他们的记录和经验将使他们成为直接的资产，而不是负债。”
一位共和党人，北卡罗来纳州参议员汤姆·蒂利斯，在参议院引起了轩然大波，他提出了新的问题，并得到了信息和答案。
但蒂利斯最终投票确认了赫格塞斯，他说赫格塞斯“有独特的视角”，对军队现代化充满热情。他说他和赫格塞斯谈了他的担忧“近两个小时”。
相比之下，麦康奈尔在投票后表示，赫格塞斯“没有考虑到”工作现实，并指出提名人“仅仅想成为‘变革推动者’是不够的。”
作为少数党，民主党帮助两党一致投票，确认国务卿马可·卢比奥和中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫进入特朗普的国家安全团队。
但严重反对赫格塞斯的民主党人几乎没有权力阻止他，而是选择拖延这一进程。投票前几个小时，民主党人在参议院提出反对意见。
康涅狄格州民主党参议员克里斯·墨菲表示，特朗普提名的人中，很少有人像赫格塞斯一样“危险且严重不合格”。
赫格塞斯被指控在加利福尼亚州的共和党会议上对一名女性实施性侵犯，但他否认了这些指控，并表示这是双方自愿的。他后来向这名女性支付了 5 万美元。
最近，赫格塞斯的前嫂子在一份宣誓书中说，他虐待他的第二任妻子，以至于她担心自己的安全。赫格塞斯否认了这一指控，在离婚诉讼中，赫格塞斯和那名女子都没有声称自己是家庭暴力的受害者。
在激烈的确认听证会上，赫格塞斯逐一驳回了不法行为的指控，并发誓要把“战士文化”带到五角大楼的最高职位上。
赫格塞斯承诺，如果得到确认，他将不在工作时喝酒。
面对特朗普盟友的强烈压力，共和党参议员坚持提名他，呼应了他所谓的针对他的“抹黑”运动。
赫格塞斯毕业于普林斯顿大学和哈佛大学，代表了 2001 年 9 月 11 日袭击事件后成长起来的新一代退伍军人。他后来在福克斯新闻担任周末节目主持人，在特朗普任命他担任国防部长之前，国会山的许多人都不知道他。
赫格塞斯关于女性不应参与军事战斗的言论引起了特别的担忧，包括那些自己也曾服役的立法者。此后，他在与参议员会面的确认过程中缓和了这些观点。
穆尔科斯基在对赫格塞斯进行测试投票前的一份长篇声明中表示，他的行为“与军方的期望形成鲜明对比”。
穆尔科斯基在社交媒体上写道：“我仍然担心赫格塞斯先生的任命会向目前服役的女性和那些渴望加入的女性传达的信息。”
柯林斯说，在与赫格塞斯进行了长时间的讨论后，“我并不认为他对女性在战斗中服役的立场发生了改变。”
但一位著名的共和党人、爱荷华州参议员乔尼·恩斯特（Joni Ernst）——她本人也是一名退伍军人和性侵犯幸存者——因对赫格塞斯持怀疑态度而受到严厉批评，并最终宣布将支持他。
赫格塞斯将领导一个拥有近 210 万军人、约 78 万平民和 8500 亿美元预算的组织。
在行使对特朗普提名人的建议和同意角色时，参议院还试图阻止他的建议，即共和党领导人干脆完全废除确认程序，并允许他在国会休会期间任命他的内阁人选。
特朗普在白宫与图恩和众议院议长迈克·约翰逊的私人会晤中提出了所谓的“休会任命”的想法，这是许多参议员试图避免的一步。
美联社记者威尔·韦塞特（Will Weissert）在洛杉矶和克里斯·梅格里安（Chris Megerian）在华盛顿对本报道做出了贡献。
题图：1 月 14 日，唐纳德·特朗普总统提名的国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在国会山举行的参议院军事委员会确认听证会上发表讲话。Andrew Harnik/Getty
附原英文报道：
Hegseth confirmed as Trump’s defense secretary in tie-breaking vote despite turmoil over his conduct
By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK The Associated Press,Updated January 24, 2025
Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, speaks during a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14.Andrew Harnik/Getty
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the nation’s defense secretary late Friday in a dramatic tie-breaking vote, swatting back questions about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon amid allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.
Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience and behavior as Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role atop the U.S. military. But the Republican-led Senate was determined to confirm Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran who has vowed to bring a “warrior culture,” rounding out President Donald Trump’s top national security Cabinet officials.
Vice President JD Vance arrived to break the 50-50 tie, highly unusual for Cabinet nominees and particularly defense secretaries, who typically win wider bipartisan support. Hegseth himself was at the Capitol with his family.
“We have a great secretary of defense and we’re very happy,” Trump said as he boarded Air Force One after surveying fire devastation in California.
Trump said he didn’t care about the dissent from Sen. Mitch McConnell, the influential former Republican leader — who joined two other Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, in voting against Hegseth — because the “important thing is winning.”
The Senate’s ability to confirm Hegseth despite a grave series of allegations against him provides a measure of Trump’s political power and ability to get what he wants from the GOP-led Congress, and of the potency of the culture wars to fuel his agenda at the White House.
Only once before has the vice president had to break a tie on a Cabinet nominee — during Trump’s first term, when Vice President Mike Pence cast the vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary.
Next week senators will be facing Trump’s other outside Cabinet choices including particularly Kash Patel, a Trump ally who has published an enemies list, as the FBI director; Tulsi Gabbard as director of the office of national intelligence; and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine advocate, at Health and Human Services.
“Is Pete Hegseth truly the best we have to offer?” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urging his colleagues to think seriously about their vote. All Democrats opposed the nominee.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Hegseth, as a veteran of the Army National Guard who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, “will bring a warrior’s perspective” to the top military job.
“Gone will be the days of woke distractions,” Thune said, referring to the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives being slashed across the federal government. “The Pentagon’s focus will be on war fighting.”
Hegseth himself was working the phones late Friday to shore up his support, his confirmation at stake.
“He’s a good man,” Trump said of Hegseth while departing the White House to visit disaster-hit North Carolina and Los Angeles. ”I hope he makes it.”
The uncertainty sent tensions soaring late Friday at the Capitol. It takes a simple majority to confirm nominees, and Republicans, with a 53-47 majority in the Senate, could only lose one more objection after Murkowski and Collins already announced they would vote no.
McConnell had signaled skepticism in an earlier speech when he declared he would confirm nominees to senior national security roles “whose record and experience will make them immediate assets, not liabilities.”
One Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, sent the Senate swirling as he raised fresh questions and was provided information and answers.
But Tillis ultimately voted to confirm Hegseth, who he said “has a unique perspective” and is passionate about modernizing the military. He said he spoke to Hegseth for “nearly two hours” about his concerns.
In contrast, McConnell said after the vote said Hegseth “did not reckon” with the reality of job, noting that the nominee’s “mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough.”
Democrats, as the minority party, have helped confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in bipartisan votes to Trump’s national security team.
But Democrats gravely opposed to Hegseth had little power to stop him, and instead resorted to dragging out the process. Hours before the vote, Democrats took to the Senate floor to object.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said there were few Trump nominees as “dangerously and woefully unqualified as Hegseth.”
Hegseth faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, though he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid $50,000 to the woman.
More recently, Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said in an affidavit that he was abusive to his second wife to the point that she feared for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegation, and in divorce proceedings, neither Hegseth nor the woman claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.
During a fiery confirmation hearing, Hegseth dismissed allegations of wrongdoing one by one, and vowed to bring “warrior culture” to the top Pentagon post.
Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job if confirmed.
Republican senators facing an intensive pressure campaign by Trump allies to support Hegseth stood by his nomination, echoing his claims of a “smear” campaign against him.
A Princeton and Harvard graduate, Hegseth represents a newer generation of veterans who came of age in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He went on to a career at Fox News as the host of a weekend show, and was unknown to many on Capitol Hill until Trump tapped him for the top Defense job.
Hegseth’s comments that women should have no role in military combat drew particular concern, including from lawmakers who themselves served. He has since tempered those views as he met with senators during the confirmation process.
Murkowski said in a lengthy statement ahead of a test vote on Hegseth that his behaviors “starkly contrast” with what is expected of the military.
“I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join,” Murkowski wrote on social media.
Collins said that after a lengthy discussion with Hegseth, “I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”
But one prominent Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a veteran and sexual assault survivor, came under harsh criticism for her skepticism toward Hegseth and eventually announced she would back him.
Hegseth would lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.
In exercising its advise and consent role over Trump’s nominees, the Senate is also trying to stave off his suggestion that the GOP leaders simply do away with the confirmation process altogether, and allow him to appoint his Cabinet choices when the Congress is on recess.
Trump raised the idea of so-called “recess appointments” during a private White House meeting with Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a step many senators are trying to avoid.
Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Los Angeles and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
