The nomination of Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary has narrowly won enough Republican support to pass a crucial Senate hurdle. He is now almost assured confirmation.

The test vote on Hegseth was approved by 51 to 49 votes. Two Republicans, Senators. Susan M. Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska voted in opposition with all Democrats.

Hegseth, who has been the target of vicious attacks for being drunk, mistreating women and mismanaging veteran organizations is set to join Trump’s Cabinet.

If all 100 senators do not agree to return some of the time, then 30 hours must be spent in further discussion on Mr. Hegseth’s nomination prior to a final vote. Democrats have indicated that they will not do this, so Mr. Hegseth won’t be confirmed until after Friday night.

Hegseth will become the third Trump nominee who has received Senate approval in his first week of office with Friday’s vote. Marco Rubio was confirmed as Secretary of State by the Senate on Monday, unanimously. John Ratcliffe became CIA Director on Thursday with a 74-25 vote.

Democrats agreed to speed up a vote for Rubio, but not Ratcliffe or Hegseth. It is not expected that they will agree to a fast confirmation vote for Kristi Noem’s nomination as Homeland Security Secretary, which is the next to be confirmed after Mr. Hegseth.

Senate Minority leader Charles E. Schumer (New York Democrat) said that it is worth spending an extra day or so to thoroughly examine candidates for high-level positions.

“Our goal is to expose the truth,” said Mr. Schumer. We don’t want to see them rushed through.

John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Majority Whip, has said that the Senate will work through the weekend in order to process Ms. Noem’s nomination, and other nights and weekends, if needed, to confirm Mr. Trump’s cabinet-level nominees.

He said: “We will continue to vote until [Democrats] understand that they must be cooperative.”

Trump said on Thursday that he will “look at” recess appointments as a way to get his nominees through if Democrats keep slowing down the formation his Cabinet. He said they were “always trying to delay the government.”

The president deferred his decision to Senate Majority leader John Thune of South Dakota, a Republican. He said that Thune is “doing an amazing job.”

Mr. Thune is not committed to recess appointments. They are constitutional, but they pose significant obstacles for both the Senate and nominees.

Mr. Barrasso stated that he does not believe recess appointments are necessary if Republicans continue to move through confirmation votes.

He said that the Senate had planned to be in session for 10 weeks straight to process the Trump nominees. “We will confirm these nominees, and the Senate will vote on each of them.”

Senate Democrats have said they will decide on an individual basis, but are concerned with several of Donald Trump’s nominations.

Richard Blumenthal, Senator from Connecticut, said: “We will give each nomination the attention it deserves.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Christopher Murphy of Connecticut, a fellow Democrat, voiced his opposition to the Republicans’ efforts to confirm Mr. Ratcliffe. He wanted his colleagues to have the opportunity to examine Mr. Ratcliffe’s record. The new CIA Director briefly served as director of National Intelligence during President Trump’s first tenure.

These nominees are often judged by comparison with other Trump nominees. Murphy stated that John Ratcliffe looked “positively mainstream” next to Tulsi Gabrield (current DNI nominee). But he politicized the intelligence in a blatant way during his brief time as DNI.

Murphy claimed that most of Trump’s nominees were “deeply unqualified” and “deeply troubled”.

He said: “When this is the case, we shouldn’t fast-track the nomination of the candidate so that the Senate and the public don’t get a chance fully to vet them.”

Republicans argue that extra days taken to process nominees does not uncover new information. Most Democrats didn’t use the time allotted for the debate to attack Mr. Ratcliffe.

Mr. Hegseth is an Army combat vet and former Fox News presenter. Democrats also felt that he deserved to be scrutinized more closely for the position of Defense Secretary, a department with over 3 million civilian and military employees, and a budget of nearly $850 billion annually.

Mr. Schumer claimed that Mr. Hegseth was among Mr. Trump’s worst nominees, and “erratic” would be the most he could describe him.

He said that high-pressure jobs tend to make people more erratic, and not less. “Is Pete Hegseth the best of what Republicans can offer?”

Democrats have seized upon accusations of Mr. Hegseth’s sexual assault, excessive alcohol consumption, abuse towards his wife and financial mismanagement by two veteran organizations. Hegseth was able convince Republicans that the accusations were political smears and denied them.

Ms. Murkowski stated that the allegations made by Mr. Hegseth did not quieten her concerns, which included inappropriate behavior, such as infidelity, that he had admitted.

She said that these behaviors “drastically contrast with the values and discipline required of servicemen.” “Men and woman in uniform will be held accountable for these actions and deserve leaders who adhere to the same standards.”

Ms. Murkowski stated that character was the most important trait Mr. Hegseth did not possess, but expressed her reservations about his policies.

She said that, “despite his recent revisions of his statements about women in combat after being nominated,” I am still concerned with the message confirming Mr. Hegseth would send to women who are currently serving or those aspiring for service.

Collins stated that she was not convinced by Mr. Hegseth’s stance against women in combat roles, despite their conversations on the topic. She said that he had not committed to follow U.S. law regarding rules of engagement or torture.

Collins stated, “I’m concerned that he doesn’t have the experience or perspective needed to be successful in his job.”

Mr. Ratcliffe is a former House Member who received the support of all Senate Republicans, but was opposed by just over half the Democratic caucus.

When he was DNI, opponents said that Mr. Ratcliffe politicized the intelligence to appease President Trump and they are afraid he will do it again as CIA Director.

Several Democrats cited the declassification by Mr. Ratcliffe of a CIA Memo from 2016, which detailed Russian claims that Hillary Clinton (the Democratic presidential candidate of the time) approved a plan to link Mr. Trump with Russia’s hacking of the Democratic National Committee.

Ratcliffe, according to Sen. Ron Wyden (Democrat from Oregon), was a member of the Ratcliffe family.