Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell voted against confirming Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary. To Capitol insiders, their decisions weren’t surprising.

Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Thursday announced on social media that she would vote against confirming Pete Hegseth to lead the U.S. Department of Defense. Republicans have a 53-seat majority in the U.

Senators voted 51-49 to advance Hegseth's defense secretary bid, which has been mired in several controversies. Two Republicans oppose him.

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released a statement on X Thursday announcing she will be voting no on the confirmation of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. Murkowski said she "cannot in good conscience support his nomination" after meeting with the Fox News weekend host.

Pete Hegseth was confirmed after Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote in support of his nomination. See how your senators voted.

Pete Hegseth has vowed to bring his “warrior” ethos to the Pentagon. Democrats had assailed him as unfit for the job, and his confirmation came down to Vice President JD Vance serving as tiebreaker.

A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he wasn't expecting Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) to vote against his controversial nominee for secretary of Defense, Army veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth.

Lisa Murkowski Does Her Homework’: Alaska GOP Senator Defends Vote Against Pete Hegseth Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) defends her vote against Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Fuel your success with Forbes.