“That was my idea,” Norm Coleman said of Pete Hegseth’s fiery Dec. 5 message to the press, which marked a “turning point” in his nomination process. “It was my one contribution.”
(Jan. 24, 2025 / JNS) After the U.S. Senate voted 51-49 along party lines on Thursday to advance Pete Hegseth as U.S. secretary of defense, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that there were “no surprises” in Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) voting against the nominee. A final vote is expected on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
The former Fox News personality and Bronze Star veteran appears set to be confirmed, but his nomination previously seemed greatly imperiled. That was until Norm Coleman stepped in, the national chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition told JNS.
A former Minnesota senator, Coleman was selected as an experienced political hand, who knows Washington well, to walk Hegseth through the Senate approval process. Both the veteran and the RJC leader have North Star State ties, as Hegseth was born in Minneapolis.
Hegseth’s team said, “You can’t say anything. You can’t,” Coleman told JNS. “I pulled him aside at one point, and I said, ‘Pete, you’ve got to let people see your heart and let them know you want this and you’re going to fight for this.’”
“He went out there and did that,” Coleman told JNS.