WASHINGTON >> The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the nation’s defense secretary Friday in a dramatic late-night 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” to the Pentagon, rounding out President Donald Trump’s top national security Cabinet officials.

Vice President JD Vance was on hand to cast a tie-breaking vote, unusual in the Senate for Cabinet nominees, who typically win wider support. Hegseth himself was at the Capitol with his family.

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.”

The Senate’s ability to confirm Hegseth despite a grave series of allegations against him will provide 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.

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.

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.”

Trump leveled criticism of Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who announced they would vote against Hegseth. And Tump raised fresh questions about Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., saying, “And of course Mitch is always a no vote, I guess. Is Mitch a no vote?”

In the end all three voted against Hegseth, as tensions soared late Friday at the Capitol.

McConnell, the former GOP leader in the Senate, had not declared his vote, but 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.” He voted against.