President Barack Obama’s expected nomination of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary poses a tougher confirmation fight for the former Republican senator within his own party than that faced by Obama’s choice for secretary of state, Democratic Senator John Kerry.
“I’m going to vote for Senator Kerry,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “I don’t agree with him a lot, but I think he’s very much in the mainstream of thought.”
Yet Hagel “is an in-your-face nomination,” said Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “This will be a controversial choice, and we’ll see where the votes go.”
Obama will announce his choice of Hagel, 66, as soon as today, said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. The president formally offered the post to the former senator yesterday in a telephone call from the White House after returning from his family vacation in Hawaii.
Hagel will be grilled over questions including whether he is sufficiently supportive of Israel and tough on Iran, if Obama goes forward with the nomination, Republicans said on the Sunday news shows.
Hagel has told friends he’s eager to tackle the job and is confident of confirmation, though no one answered calls to his home or mobile phone yesterday amid scrutiny of the choice.
[h=2]Tough Questions[/h]Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Hagel would face “a lot of tough questions,” while not ruling out his own support. “I’m going to wait and see how the hearings go and see whether Chuck’s views square with the job he would be nominated to do,” McConnell said on ABC’s “This Week.”
While the nomination of Hagel to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta represents an outreach across party lines for the president, Republican Senator Ted Cruz joined Graham on “Fox News Sunday” saying they are predisposed to oppose Hagel. Cruz, elected anew from Texas in November, said Hagel “advocated weakness with respect to our enemies.”
In turning to Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential nominee, and Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, as he reshapes his national security team heading into a second term, Obama is elevating two decorated Vietnam War veterans who became opponents of the war in Iraq after their initial support in 2002. Kerry also returned from Vietnam to oppose that war.
Kerry would replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Senate Republicans have said they don’t expect him to face any significant confirmation challenge. The nomination of any Cabinet secretary requires confirmation of the Senate.
While Obama has yet to name a new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, two leading candidates are acting director Michael Morell and Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan.
[h=2]Hagel Eyed[/h]Hagel has been discussed as the leading candidate to lead the Pentagon for more than a month, and the prospect of his nomination has drawn opposition from an ad hoc coalition of Republican advocates of muscular defense policies, supporters of Israel and gay-rights activists.
He opposed the troop surge during the Iraq war under Republican President George W. Bush, questioned unilateral economic sanctions against Iran and has called the defense budget “bloated.” Hagel also has come under fire for citing the influence of the “Jewish lobby” on behalf of Israel.
“Chuck Hagel’s opposition to Iranian sanctions and support for direct, unconditional talks with its leaders is both at odds with current U.S. policy and a threat to global security,” Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas told the Daily Beast yesterday. “To make matters worse, he has called for direct negotiations with Hamas. The worst possible message we could send to our friend Israel and the rest of our allies in the Middle East is Chuck Hagel.”
Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and Israel.
[h=2]Hagel Supporters[/h]Criticism of Hagel has drawn a counter-attack from a bipartisan group of former U.S. national security advisers -- James L. Jones, Brent Scowcroft, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Frank Carlucci.
“Hagel is a man of unshakable integrity and wisdom who has served his country in the most distinguished manner in peace and war,” they wrote in a letter published in the Washington Post on Dec. 25.
Obama defended Hagel in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” broadcast Dec. 30, saying there is nothing that would disqualify the former senator for the job.
“He’s a patriot, he’s somebody who has done extraordinary work in the United States Senate and somebody who served this country with valor in Vietnam,” Obama said, adding Hagel also “is somebody who is currently serving on my intelligence advisory board and doing an outstanding job.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at [email protected]; Hans Nichols in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [email protected]
“I’m going to vote for Senator Kerry,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “I don’t agree with him a lot, but I think he’s very much in the mainstream of thought.”
Yet Hagel “is an in-your-face nomination,” said Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “This will be a controversial choice, and we’ll see where the votes go.”
Obama will announce his choice of Hagel, 66, as soon as today, said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. The president formally offered the post to the former senator yesterday in a telephone call from the White House after returning from his family vacation in Hawaii.
Hagel will be grilled over questions including whether he is sufficiently supportive of Israel and tough on Iran, if Obama goes forward with the nomination, Republicans said on the Sunday news shows.
Hagel has told friends he’s eager to tackle the job and is confident of confirmation, though no one answered calls to his home or mobile phone yesterday amid scrutiny of the choice.
[h=2]Tough Questions[/h]Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Hagel would face “a lot of tough questions,” while not ruling out his own support. “I’m going to wait and see how the hearings go and see whether Chuck’s views square with the job he would be nominated to do,” McConnell said on ABC’s “This Week.”
While the nomination of Hagel to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta represents an outreach across party lines for the president, Republican Senator Ted Cruz joined Graham on “Fox News Sunday” saying they are predisposed to oppose Hagel. Cruz, elected anew from Texas in November, said Hagel “advocated weakness with respect to our enemies.”
In turning to Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential nominee, and Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, as he reshapes his national security team heading into a second term, Obama is elevating two decorated Vietnam War veterans who became opponents of the war in Iraq after their initial support in 2002. Kerry also returned from Vietnam to oppose that war.
Kerry would replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Senate Republicans have said they don’t expect him to face any significant confirmation challenge. The nomination of any Cabinet secretary requires confirmation of the Senate.
While Obama has yet to name a new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, two leading candidates are acting director Michael Morell and Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan.
[h=2]Hagel Eyed[/h]Hagel has been discussed as the leading candidate to lead the Pentagon for more than a month, and the prospect of his nomination has drawn opposition from an ad hoc coalition of Republican advocates of muscular defense policies, supporters of Israel and gay-rights activists.
He opposed the troop surge during the Iraq war under Republican President George W. Bush, questioned unilateral economic sanctions against Iran and has called the defense budget “bloated.” Hagel also has come under fire for citing the influence of the “Jewish lobby” on behalf of Israel.
“Chuck Hagel’s opposition to Iranian sanctions and support for direct, unconditional talks with its leaders is both at odds with current U.S. policy and a threat to global security,” Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas told the Daily Beast yesterday. “To make matters worse, he has called for direct negotiations with Hamas. The worst possible message we could send to our friend Israel and the rest of our allies in the Middle East is Chuck Hagel.”
Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and Israel.
[h=2]Hagel Supporters[/h]Criticism of Hagel has drawn a counter-attack from a bipartisan group of former U.S. national security advisers -- James L. Jones, Brent Scowcroft, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Frank Carlucci.
“Hagel is a man of unshakable integrity and wisdom who has served his country in the most distinguished manner in peace and war,” they wrote in a letter published in the Washington Post on Dec. 25.
Obama defended Hagel in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” broadcast Dec. 30, saying there is nothing that would disqualify the former senator for the job.
“He’s a patriot, he’s somebody who has done extraordinary work in the United States Senate and somebody who served this country with valor in Vietnam,” Obama said, adding Hagel also “is somebody who is currently serving on my intelligence advisory board and doing an outstanding job.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at [email protected]; Hans Nichols in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [email protected]