UPDATE: VP Pence swears in Defense Secretary James Mattis

Posted at 6:05 pm on January 20, 2017 by Greg P.

General James Mattis was confirmed as the next Secretary of Defense on Friday by a vote of 98-1:

Mattis confirmation vote currently at 98-1. Apparently missing vote is……..Sessions.
— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) January 20, 2017

Final approval was held up for a little bit as the Senators attempted to “work a deal” on Donald Trump’s nominee to head the CIA, Rep. Mike Pompeo:

Senate vote on Mattis still not final, because Senators are trying work a deal on a vote for Pompeo (CIA)
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) January 20, 2017

We’ll have to wait until Monday for the Pompeo vote:

McConnell proposes 6 hours of debate on Monday on CIA nomination (Pompeo) – that's agreed to
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) January 20, 2017

Sen. Sessions ended up not voting:

Sen. Gillibrand is the sole "no" vote on Gen. Mattis for Defense Secretary, and Sen. Sessions did not vote, per @AliABCNews. https://t.co/dyEHMYDrBk
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 20, 2017

Sen. Jeff Sessions, AG nominee, did not vote on Mattis nomination https://t.co/IN73cCszV9
— CQ Now (@CQnow) January 20, 2017

Secretary Mattis is the first of President Trump’s nominees to get confirmed by the Senate. Now only 689 more to go:

Senate confirms James Mattis as defence secretary, making him the 1st of president Trump's 30 noms to be appointed. 689 confirmations to go.
— Matt Kwong (@matt_kwong) January 20, 2017

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of NY was the sole no vote. Of note, she was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Hillary Clinton when she was confirmed as Secretary of State in 2009:

Sen. Gillibrand the first "no" vote on Mattis confirmation for Defense; current tally is 95-1
— CQ Now (@CQnow) January 20, 2017

Gillibrand (D-NY) voted no. She had objected to waiving legal requirement that military be out of office 7 years before being eligible.
— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) January 20, 2017

Or maybe she’s still mad that her candidate got beat?

Update. Secretary Mattis was just sworn in by Vice President Pence: