U.S. Senator from Maine Susan Collins was one of just two Republicans to join Democrats on Thursday in voting against President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.
The Senate voted 51 to 49 to advance Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Department of Defense, with Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Collins siding with all 47 Democrats in attempting to block his nomination.
Thursday’s vote sets up a final confirmation vote for Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor and Army combat veteran, whose nomination generated a flurry of negative media attention after news reports containing allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual assault and financial mismanagement of veterans’ advocacy organizations that he led.
Hegseth has also faced criticism for his prior statements expressing his opposition to women serving in combat roles — part of his broader view that the Pentagon’s diversity programs have lowered standards.
Sen. Collins issued a statement Thursday afternoon announcing her decision to vote against Hegseth, saying that she believes the Princeton and Harvard-educated veteran lacks the “experience and perspective necessary” to succeed as Secretary of Defense.
Hegseth served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard from 2003 to 2014, and again from 2019 to 2021, attaining the rank of Major and serving in deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
“While I appreciate his courageous military service and his ongoing commitment to our servicemembers and their families, I am concerned that he does not have the experience and perspective necessary to succeed in the job,” Collins wrote in a post to X.
Collins highlighted the “tremendous pressure” the U.S. military is facing on the global stage, with ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, the threat of China in the Pacific and “sever financial challenges” brought on by what she said was ineffective leadership by the Biden administration.
“The next Secretary of Defense will be responsible for managing a massive bureaucracy that includes nearly three million employees and a budget of nearly $850 billion,” Collins wrote. “In addition, our next Secretary faces long-standing procurement and supply issues that continued to worsen under the Biden Administration.”
Collins previously applauded Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for overturning the ban on transgender people serving in the military, a prohibition put in place by Trump during his first term and reinstated by the president in an executive order signed on Monday.
“In sum, the Secretary is going to be facing a number of incredibly complex problems that are going to require highly skilled management ability,” she continued. “I am concerned that Mr. Hegseth does not have the management experience and background that he will need in order to tackle these difficulties. His limited managerial experience involved running two small non-profit organizations that had decidedly mixed results.”
Additionally, Collins pointed to Hegseth’s prior statements about women serving in combat roles as another reason behind her opposition to his nomination.
Hegseth has since clarified those remarks, explaining that he only opposes the lowering of standard for women in combat to levels that are different from those for men.
While the two had a meeting in December regarding those statements, Collins said that she is “not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”
“Women comprise nearly 18 percent of our active-duty military. They continue to make critical and valuable contributions to our national defense. I have long advocated that women who wish to serve in and can meet the rigorous standards of combat roles should be able to do so. And numerous women have proved that they can accomplish this difficult feat,” Collins wrote.
“Currently, thousands of women are serving in combat roles and many others serve in non-combat functions. Their service is essential to the success of our military,” she added.
Collins also touched on a topic that came up during Hegseth’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week regarding torture and rules of engagement in combat.
Maine Sen. Angus King (I), who eventually voted against Hegseth’s nomination himself, questioned Hegseth on his prior statements that the U.S. military should “fight to win,” asking if the nominee believes the U.S. should not adhere to the humanitarian provisions of the Geneva Conventions.
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“Mr. Hegseth also appears to lack a sufficient appreciation for some of the policies that the military is required to follow because they are codified in the laws of the United States of America,” Collins said of Trump’s nominee.
“While I understand his points on the importance of up-to-date and workable rules of engagement, our prohibitions against torture come from American laws and treaties ratified by the United States, including the Geneva Conventions,” she wrote.
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