Embattled Hegseth looks to be confirmed by Senate to lead Pentagon

The Senate is poised to hold a vote to confirm Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as secretary of defense, late Friday evening.

Though Hegseth's nomination has faced scrutiny from a number of Senate Republicans, it is likely that he will have the votes to be confirmed with the support of only Republicans when his nomination comes up for final consideration before the upper chamber.

Hegseth, a former "Fox and Friends" television anchor, was nominated by Trump in November to lead the Defense Department. In the time since his nomination was announced, Hegseth has been scrutinized for a number of accusations made against him, including those of sexual assault and financial mismanagement of two different veterans organizations.

Hegseth has fiercely denied the allegations. He appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee for a public hearing earlier this month, where he asserted to the panel that he was a "changed man."

"I am not a perfect person, but redemption is real," he told the panel.

During the same hearing, he affirmed his promise to restore the "warfighting ethos" of the DOD, touting his experience in the National Guard.

It was enough to win over the support of most Republicans in the Senate, including several of those who were initially skeptical.

"He articulated a clear vision of the Pentagon, and it was clear to anyone who listened that he is going to bring energy and fresh ideas to shake up the department's stagnant bureaucracy," Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a floor speech endorsing Hegseth on Thursday. "He will restore a warfighting ethos and relentlessly focused on the military's core mission: to deter conflict and, if necessary, to win a war."

The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced his nomination on a party-line vote on Monday. Then, in a closely watched moment on Thursday, Hegseth's nomination passed a key test vote that set the table for Friday's vote of final passage.

The nomination only required a simple majority in the Senate to advance, and it cleared the threshold narrowly, with only GOP backing.

But Hegseth did lose the support of two Senate Republicans during that Thursday vote. Those two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, are once again expected to cast votes against Hegseth during a final vote on Friday.

In a statement, Murkowski explained that she could not support Hegseth due to concerns about this character and lack of experience.

"I believe that character is the defining trait required of the Secretary of Defense and must be prioritized without compromise," Murkowski said in the post. "The leader of the Department of Defense must demonstrate and model the standards of behavior and character we expect of all servicemembers, and Mr. Hegseth's nomination to the role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook."

Collins took issue with comments Hegseth made in the past about his belief that women should not serve in combat roles in the military. Though Hegseth has since changed his tune on that, Collins said she was unconvinced.

"I am also concerned about multiple statements, including some in the months just before he was nominated, that Mr. Hegseth has made about women serving in the military," Collins said. "He and I had a candid conversation in December about his past statements and apparently evolving views. I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed."

Trump expressed confidence in Hegseth ahead of the vote on Friday, though he added, "You'll never know what's going to happen."

Two other closely watched Republicans, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former GOP leader, and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, ultimately cast votes in favor of advancing Hegseth's nomination, though there's still a chance they change their views during Friday's final vote, and the president questioned whether McConnell will vote no on Hegseth Friday morning.

Tillis, for example, said he's still considering the most recent slate of allegations against Hegseth, leveled in an affidavit from Hegseth's former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth. In that affidavit, which ABC News obtained, Danielle Hegseth attested that Pete Hegseth's ex-wife Samantha told her she "once hid in her closet from Hegseth because she feared for her personal safety" in the home they shared during their marriage. It also detailed episodes of binge drinking by Pete Hegseth.

An attorney for Pete Hegseth denied these allegations, and allegations of abuse were also rejected by his ex-wife.

Tillis said he so far has not found credible evidence to back many of the allegations that have be levied against Pete Hegseth but that he's still doing his vetting on these most recent developments.

"I am in the process of completing due diligence on what appears to be the last allegation. All the other ones I couldn't conclude had validity," Tillis said Thursday. "So I'm talking to people that can give me data inputs. It all goes back to the same thing -- first-hand, eye-witness, corroborated account."

Pete Hegseth can afford to lose three Republicans when he is voted on later Friday. If one more Republican flips his or her vote, he will need the tiebreaking vote of Vice President J.D. Vance to be confirmed.