Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, announced on a local news radio show on Tuesday that she would vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as the next secretary of defense, ending weeks of speculation over whether she would break with President-elect Donald J. Trump over his pick.
“I will be supporting President Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth,” Ms. Ernst said on WHO News Radio 1040, a station in Des Moines.
Her decision dramatically increases the likelihood that Mr. Hegseth will have enough votes to be confirmed by the Senate. Because Democrats are expected to oppose him en masse, Mr. Hegseth can afford to lose no more than three Republican votes. After Ms. Ernst’s announcement, only a handful of G.O.P. senators’ votes may be in play; Senators Susan Collins of Maine, John Curtis of Utah, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana have not yet said how they will vote.
Ms. Ernst was seen as a potentially pivotal swing vote for Mr. Hegseth, whose candidacy has been complicated by allegations of sexual assault, public drunkenness and corporate mismanagement. Ms. Ernst, a survivor of sexual assault and the Senate’s first female combat veteran, has actively campaigned for expanding opportunities for female service members and was a leading G.O.P. voice agitating for changes to how the military handles sexual assault cases.
But it was clear during Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday that despite her initial reservations about Mr. Hegseth’s bid, Ms. Ernst had come to embrace the idea of his leading the Pentagon. Though Ms. Ernst said at the start of her questioning that she was someone who would “pull no punches,” she did not challenge Mr. Hegseth — and at one point, even tried to rebut allegations that he had mismanaged the veterans nonprofits he ran.
Ms. Ernst’s later announcement that she would vote to confirm Mr. Hegseth completed an evolution that had been underway for weeks, amid a concerted pressure campaign to back his bid.
When Mr. Trump announced Mr. Hegseth as his choice, Ms. Ernst initially appeared hostile to the selection, telling reporters that he would “have his work cut out for him.” After a private meeting with Mr. Hegseth, she said on Fox News that she was not yet a “yes” on his confirmation.
Her confession prompted an immediate backlash from outside groups affiliated with Mr. Trump, who targeted her with ads and social media posts, while prominent Iowa Republicans threatened to mount primary challenges against her in 2026.
Within days, Ms. Ernst met with Mr. Hegseth again, and announced that she had been heartened by his promises to audit the Pentagon and appoint a senior official to deter sexual assaults in the military and ensure that female service members would be considered for combat roles if they could meet the requirements.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Ms. Ernst stuck to that same script, asking Mr. Hegseth questions that allowed him to state publicly his pledges about audits, women in combat and deterring military sexual assaults.
