A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

Amid Republican claims of “anonymous smears,” a named person — and a Hegseth, at that — accuses the defense secretary nominee of abusive behavior.

The Senate moved to hold a vote on whether to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defence. The decision was close—two Republicans joined all of the Democrats in voting against moving the confirmation procedure to its final stage.