We always knew it was going to be tight, but North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis (R) has placed the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense in further doubt with comments Thursday night that signaled he was not a firm yes. 

The vote is set for Friday night at 8:57 pm Eastern, following the 30 hours allotted post-cloture. 

Senate still tracking a vote on nomination of Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary around 8:57 pm et once the 30 hour window of time expires after the Senate broke a filibuster yesterday

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 24, 2025

Hegseth was voted out of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday on a strict party-line vote (14-13). He cleared cloture on Thursday afternoon 51-49, with regular Republican defectors Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) voting nay. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who's also been doubtful on the Hegseth confirmation, at least gave a thumbs up to cloture.

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But now there's a question as to whether Tillis will ditch as well. And Hegseth can only afford to lose three Republican votes. Our sister site, Townhall, has the latest.

Cloture was invoked on a 51-49 over. It’s slim, but the nomination was never in danger of forcing Vice President JD Vance to perform his constitutional duty and break a tie in the Senate. Hegseth could only afford three defections. The suicide sisters in Collins and Murkowski might have a new member: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) (via WSJ): 

Even President Trump isn’t sure if Pete Hegseth, his unconventional pick to lead the Pentagon, can squeak through what Republican lawmakers now expect to be an extremely close confirmation vote Friday night in the GOP-controlled Senate.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Trump said as he left the White House Friday morning for a trip to North Carolina and California. “You never know with those things. But Pete’s a very, very good man. I hope he makes it. I hope he makes it.” 

[…]

Other than Collins and Murkowski, who are on the record as “no” votes, and McConnell, whose position is unknown, nearly all other Republican senators have said they plan to vote yes on Friday. One exception is Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), who said Thursday night that he was still “completing due diligence” on the latest allegations against Hegseth, which surfaced earlier this week in a sworn statement from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth. 

Tillis, who is up for re-election next year, has long been a presumptive yes on Hegseth, but after the emergence of Danielle Hegseth’s statement, he said he is open to new information “until the final vote.” 

Senate Republicans are now concerned about Tillis, a person familiar with the matter said Friday afternoon. The Trump team also is most worried about Tillis, because he could potentially be the fourth “no” if Collins, Murkowski and McConnell all vote no, another person said.

Asked Friday afternoon if he was certain that Tillis would vote “yes,” Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) demurred. “We’re continuing to work on the process,” said Barrasso, whose job it is to count votes in the Senate GOP.

Townhall tried to contact Sen. Tillis’ office multiple times and could not speak with anyone.

As of this writing, Tillis has not indicated how he plans to vote, though he'd previously vowed to vote in favor of confirmation if Hegseth made it to the Senate floor. 

There’s some reports that say Thom Tillis is undecided on Hegseth, but worth remembering he said he’d vote for him back in December if he made it to the Senate floor. https://t.co/5nteQ2QZW1

— Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) January 24, 2025

So now we wait to see if Tillis, who's up for reelection in 2026 and whose state just received a visit from Trump earlier in the day, decides to sabotage the nomination. Let's hope the final answer on that is no.