The US Senate on Friday approved Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trump’s defense secretary by a razor-thin margin, in which, Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote.

The nominee can only afford to lose three GOP senators if Democrats unite against him so attention could now shift to Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and other potential swing votes.

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.

Vice President Vance cast a tie-breaking vote as Hegseth overcame allegations of sexual assault, public drunkenness and questions of financial mismanagement to win Senate approval.

Three Republicans voted with every Democrat against Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Pentagon, forcing Vance to step in and put Hegseth over the top.

Pete Hegseth cleared a procedural hurdle Thursday for a final Senate vote to advance his confirmation to lead the Department of Defense, setting up a high-stakes showdown.

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

The Senate is expected to make a final confirmation vote for Pete Hegseth's defense secretary appointment under the Trump administration on Friday.

The president says up to 30,000 criminal migrants deported from the United States could be housed at the facility in Cuba, but it wasn't immediately clear how the plan would be implemented.

Maine's Republican senator plans to question both during separate hearings scheduled for Thursday morning, and she seen as a possible swing vote.

WHEN PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP authorized the full release of federal archives on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he made good on a promise near and dear to academic historians and conspiracy theorists alike.