Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., told Newsmax on Friday that any Republican who votes against Pete Hegseth's nomination to head the Department of Defense is "going to vote against Donald Trump."
Tuberville told "Newsline" in an interview that he hopes Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are the only members of the GOP to vote against Hegseth.
"At the end of the day, Armed Services Committee or any committee that that is unanimous on our side that comes out of the committee, everybody else should vote on that person, because that means they don't trust us as a committee member."
Tuberville added that he's "very disappointed" Hegseth didn't get support from all 53 Republicans in the Senate, but noted that "he did get 51."
The senator said, "Now tonight about 9 o'clock, we'll vote again. You never know what's going to happen. We were very targeted yesterday before the vote by the Democrats. The first time I'd seen that, it looked like each Democrat was targeting one certain Republican trying to get them changed their mind."
Tuberville recalled Democrats saying, "'Oh, he's not a good choice. He's going to embarrass us, do all those kind of things.'"
The senator said that these comments are "not going to change most of our minds, but I'm kind of worried about some of these Republicans that sometimes do change their mind."
Tuberville said, "At the end of the day, if they don't vote for Hegseth, they're basically going to vote against Donald Trump because they don't like him."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.