Live updates: Vance breaks tie to confirm Hegseth as Trump’s Defense secretary

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) moved a step closer to leading the Department of Homeland Security as the Senate voted on Friday to advance her to a final confirmation vote. 

Senators voted 61-39 to break a filibuster on Noem’s nomination on Friday evening.

Noem’s confirmation would put the final piece of President Trump’s core national security team in place.

READ MORE HERE.

President Trump congratulated Pete Hegseth shortly after his confirmation as Defense secretary Friday.

“Congratulations to Pete Hegseth,” he wrote on Truth Social. “He will make a great Secretary of Defense!”

The Senate is now voting to invoke cloture on the nomination of Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Noem advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on a bipartisan, 13-2 vote.

If Democrats don’t yield back any of the 30 hours allocated after tonight’s vote, a final vote on Noem would take place Sunday morning.

Vice President Vance on Friday broke a Senate tie to confirm Pete Hegseth as President Trump’s secretary of Defense, capping a bruising two-month fight over the nominee, who faced a litany of allegations that included sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement and excessive drinking.

GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.) voted “no,” forcing Vance to step in and break the 50-50 tie. Murkowski and Collins had telegraphed their votes, but McConnell’s emerged as a surprise.

It is believed to be only the second time in history a vice president has had to step in to break a tie on a nominee. Former Vice President Mike Pence broke a tie to confirm Betsy DeVos as secretary of Education in 2017.

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Vice President Vance took to the social media platform X after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted against Pete Hegseth as Defense secretary.

“I thought I was done voting in the senate,” the former Ohio senator wrote Friday after McConnell’s vote, which is almost certain to create a 50-50 tie that Vance will have to break.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted “no” on Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon.

McConnell voted to advance Hegseth on Thursday, but rumors swirled Friday that he could oppose the nominee.

Still, the vote came as a surprise and will almost certainly force Vice President Vance to step in and break a 50-50 tie.

Rumors swirled through the Capitol Friday afternoon that Hegseth’s nomination might be torpedoed at the last minute by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), even though they both voted to advance him on Thursday.

However as the Senate began voting, Tillis posted a statement affirming he would support Hegseth.

“Once Pete Hegseth’s nomination was sent to the floor by my colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I conducted my own due diligence, including asking tough questions of Pete and I appreciated his candor and openness in answering them,” Tillis wrote.

At the same time, Hegseth himself released a letter he had sent Tillis, refuting allegations of abuse in his second marriage that had surface days earlier.

The Senate is currently voting on the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as President Trump’s pick for Defense secretary.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump walked on Fiske Steet in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, talking with police officers and greeting residents.

“We won’t let you down,” Trump said to a group of firefighters.

Melania met one woman outside of her home and they hugged and spoke for a few minutes.

Before Fiske Steet, the Trumps went on Marine One to tour wildfire damage from above.

Trump told reporters when he landed in California that he thinks he will be able to work with Newsom on wildfire relief efforts for the Sunshine State.

“We’re looking to get something completed, and the way you get it completed is to work together with the governor of the state and we’re going to get it completed,” Trump said.

Trump told reporters that he appreciated that the governor of California came out to the tarmac to greet him when he landed in the Los Angeles area.

“We appreciate the governor coming out and meeting me very much, and we’ll be talking,” Trump said. “We want to get it fixed. We want to get the problem fixed. And there’ll be some work, but it’s like you got hit by a bomb.”

Newsom added, “We’re going to need your support… we’re going to need your help.”

President Trump gave a cordial greeting to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) as he walked off Air Force One in California.

The two political rivals shook hands and were friendly as Newsom thanked Trump for coming to the state.

Trump has criticized Newsom over the response to the fires that devastated the greater Los Angeles area, but blamed the Biden administration, suggesting it should have done more to help southern California.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) will join Trump for an emergency briefing after he surveys the wreckage from the ongoing wildfires in the area.

Bass has recently faced criticism for being overseas when the fires broke out.

Several California lawmakers and city officials will join Bass and Trump during the briefing, set to take place in the Pacific Palisades, notes the White House.

The president of an advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence praised President Trump’s 2024 election victory in a new interview but argued that Republicans will not fall in line behind the commander in chief forever. 

Advancing American Freedom’s (AAF) President Tim Chapman stated that Trump currently is “at the height of his influence and power” within the GOP and that it will be harder to discover dissent during the early stages of his second administration.

But, he said, that might not be a “permanent environment” with various factions being part of the coalition the president forged during his recent Oval Office run. 

Read the full story here.

The Department of Education has dismissed 11 complaints regarding “book bans” the federal agency received during the Biden administration, it announced Friday.

The department said it ended former President Biden’s “book ban hoax,” calling the complaints about book removals “meritless” and based “upon a dubious legal theory.” 

The complaints alleged the removals created a hostile environment, while the federal agency said the books were age-inappropriate or contained sexually explicit or obscene material.  

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has pulled back guidance saying that the removal of books with that type of material violated civil rights.

The department will also not employ a “book ban coordinator” and dismissed another six allegations of pending book bans.  

The Trump administration is pausing approvals for new renewable energy projects on public lands and in public waters.

The Interior Department quietly issued an order on Monday that blocks activities that enable renewable development on federally owned lands or offshore. 

For 60 days, the government will not issue any leases, rights of way, contracts or “any other agreement required to allow for renewable energy development.”

The directive was signed by acting Interior Secretary Walter Cruickshank, who is helming the agency until Trump nominee Doug Burgum is confirmed by the Senate.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) said he thanked President Trump for coming to the mountains and asked him for $20 billion in disaster relief and an extension on reimbursement of eligible FEMA expenses.

“It’s a positive signal that President Trump made his first visit outside the capital as president to our mountains,” Stein posted on social platform X.

“Families, businesses and communities are struggling and need these urgent resources to help them rebuild. I look forward to working with the Trump administration in the coming weeks and months to get people what they need to recover.”

Stein greeted Trump at the airport in Asheville.

Democrats are sounding highly dubious about working with Republicans on tax reform after President Trump said Thursday he’s interested in a bipartisan approach to one of the top Republican legislative priorities.

In virtual remarks Thursday before the Davos Economic Forum, Trump ceded that he would likely need Democratic votes to pass an extension of his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — a bill that not a single Democrat supported during his first term.

“When we do the renewal of the Trump tax [cuts], we have to get Democrats to approve it. If the Democrats didn’t approve it, I don’t know how they can survive with about a 45 percent tax increase,” Trump said.

Trump and Republicans are facing enormous pressure to extend key provisions of the 2017 tax law, including cuts to individual income tax rates that will expire at the end of the year.

Failing to renew the law and deliver on key Trump campaign promises could kneecap Republican efforts to stave off Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections.

“We were kind of hoping that we could get something done ourselves, but we’ll see. [Trump is] usually pretty accurate. It’s all math right now,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), a member of the tax writing Ways and Means Committee, told The Hill.

FULL STORY HERE.

Vice President Vance had a clear message for the March for Life in Washington on Friday.

“I want more babies in the United States of America,” Vance said to loud cheers. “I want more happy children in our country. And I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them in the world and to raise them.”

Vance said it was the government’s task to make it easier for young parents to afford parenting.

“We failed a generation not only by permitting a culture of abortion on demand but also by neglecting to help young parents achieve the ingredients they need to lead a happy and meaningful life,” he said.

In a prerecorded video played at the March For Life, President Trump said he “was so proud to be a participant” in the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

He announced he would “protect the historic gains” made in his first term and “stop the radical Democrat push” for a federal right to abortion.

“We will finally investigate radical left attacks on churches and crisis pregnancy centers and will bring perpetrators to justice,” he said.

“And I am releasing the Christian and pro-life activists who were persecuted by the Biden regime,” he said as the crowd cheered.

Vice President Vance took the stage after Trump’s video.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), in his address at the March for Life, boasted about his campaign to defeat a constitutional amendment in his state that would have protected abortion rights.

About 57 percent of Florida voters supported the amendment, but it needed 60 percent to pass. And he said Republicans were only growing stronger politically as they fought against abortion.

“So don’t let the naysayers say that you gotta toss away these important convictions and that you shouldn’t stand for the right to life,” he said.

He ended with a play on his slogan that Florida is where “woke goes to die.”

“Florida is not only the place where woke goes to die, it’s the place where babies go to live,” he said, to loud cheers from the crowd.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) touted the GOP’s “born alive” abortion bill during his speech Friday at the March for Life, just a day after the bill passed the House.

The bill was blocked by Democrats in the Senate and supported by only one Democrat in the House. The crowd booed as Johnson knocked Democrats for killing the bill.

He also pointed to one of President Trump’s executive orders on gender, which he said “defines life as beginning at conception rather than birth.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) also addressed the march and said Republicans would continue to fight for the protection of all lives, “even when they are small, even when they are weak.”

“I know that some days the fight for life can seem like an uphill battle,” he said. “But I want you to remember: You are not alone.”

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump spent time hearing the stories of victims of Tropical Storm Helene on Friday in Swannanoa, N.C. (Associated Press)

The president met with residents and toured storm damage in Swannanoa, N.C., which is still recovering after Tropical Storm Helene tore through the area in late September.

“I promised that I’d come back to Western North Carolina to help the people of the state, and today here I am to deliver on that promise,” Trump said while standing in front of a house that had been damaged in the storm.

Trump said he would seek to cut red tape around permits to rebuild roads in the region.

During his trip to the state, Trump was repeatedly critical of the Biden administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has been on the ground in the state since the storm first hit.

Trump was joined by local GOP lawmakers and Franklin Graham, the evangelist and leader of Samaritan’s Purse, a humanitarian aid group.

Trump, taking reporters’ questions in North Carolina, defended the removal of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s security detail, suggesting former government officials should not get indefinite security even as Fauci and others he has removed from protection have faced threats.

“When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off. And you know, you can’t have them forever. So, I think it’s very standard,” Trump said.

Among those greeting the Trumps on the tarmac in Asheville, N.C., were RNC Chair Michael Whatley, from left, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) and North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D). (Associated Press)

Thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington late Friday morning for the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion rally.

Events started at 11 a.m. with a music concert, with speeches starting at noon. A number of top GOP leaders are expected to take the stage, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Vice President Vance. President Trump is expected to speak virtually.

March for Life said Friday marked the first time the leaders of both congressional chambers addressed the event.

Crowds were energized heading into the rally, with organized groups milling about, lots of college students, and fairly evenly split between men and women.

Watch a live stream of events here.

In a press conference after his arrival at Asheville’s airport, ahead of surveying recovery efforts in North Carolina, the president said he’d like to get rid of FEMA entirely. States are better positioned to handle disasters, the president said.

Trump suggested he wanted to see two actions taken in California before he offered federal support for Los Angeles as it grapples with wildfires.

“I want to see two things in Los Angeles. Voter ID, so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina.

“Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen,” he added.

Democrats have vehemently opposed placing conditions on federal assistance to Los Angeles, arguing it would set a dangerous precedent.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Friday that President Trump invited him and California’s other Democratic senator, Alex Padilla, on a visit to California amid the wildfires ravaging in Los Angeles — an offer Schiff said he turned down only because the Senate is voting on high-profile Trump nominees. 

“A number of us invited him to come to the state and he reciprocated, inviting us to join him to go to these fire areas,” Schiff said in an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.

“Regrettably, Sen. Padilla and I have votes today in the Senate, so we aren’t able to go,” he continued. “But I’m glad he’s going, and I’m glad that he’s going to see the devastation. Because I think, frankly, until you see it and the scope of it — whole neighborhoods gone block after block after block — it’s hard to wrap your head around.”

Shortly afterwards, Trump acknowledged the invitation. But he also seemed to be confused over why it was offered, and he emphasized that it didn’t come from him directly, as Schiff suggested.  

READ MORE HERE.