You might as well just resign now, Chuck.
"Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, prevailed in a 58 to 41 vote — the smallest margin for a defense secretary since the position was created in 1947, according to Senate records.... Nearly all recent defense secretaries have sailed through their final votes.... only nominee for defense secretary to face a filibuster.... The narrow victory raised questions about whether Hagel would arrive at the Pentagon as a diminished leader.... even before Hagel takes office, questions are growing about whether the fight over his confirmation will wound his ability to lead the Pentagon.... Privately, some Democrats were concerned."
That's after he cleared the committee.
"Republicans block Hagel from defense post; Democrats say the move is a first for a filibuster" by Jeremy W. Peters | New York Times, February 15, 2013
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked President Obama’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, in a defiant move likely to further strain partisan tensions while preventing the White House, at least temporarily, from assembling its second-term national security team.
In a result that broke down almost strictly along party lines, Democratic senators could not muster the support to advance the nomination of Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, to a final vote. The vote was 58-40, falling short of the 60 that were needed.
Democrats vowed to try again to save the nomination of Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran, when the Senate returns from recess in 10 days. Several Republicans who voted against Hagel said they would not block a final vote.
Democrats accused the opponents of mounting the first-ever filibuster against a Pentagon chief for their own political purposes.
‘‘Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, it gets worse,’’ said Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader. ‘‘I guess to be able to run for the Senate as a Republican in most places of the country, you need to have a resume that says, ‘I helped filibuster one of the president’s nominees.’ ”
The vote represented the first time in history that the Senate has required that a nominee for secretary of defense clear the 60-vote hurdle before a final, simple majority vote.
Republicans, who took the extraordinary step of rebuffing their former colleague and fellow party member, insisted that Democrats were trying to rush a vote on a crucial Cabinet position that deserved more consideration....
Given the outcome, a major matter of concern for the White House over the next 10 days is that Hagel’s opponents — an array of groups that includes conservative and pro-Israel forces — could intensify their campaigns to defeat his nomination.
Leaders of these groups said they expected their efforts to include more phone calls urging conservative voters to tell their senators to vote no; new efforts to unearth embarrassing details from Hagel’s past; and, potentially, a new round of television advertisements pressuring Democrats to drop their support for him.
“My intention is to keep doing what we’re doing, but only to escalate the effort,’’ said David Brog, executive director of the pro-Israel evangelical group Christians United for Israel....
And thus Israel's vise-grip on the AmeriKan government ever so slightly loosens since it failed.
In a statement after Thursday’s vote, the White House accused Republicans of putting ‘‘political posturing ahead of our nation’s security.’’ It added that there were serious matters at hand: ‘‘We have 66,000 men and women deployed in Afghanistan, and we need our new secretary of defense to be a part of significant decisions about how we bring that war to a responsible end.’’
The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta will remain in the position.
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"White House warns on nomination delays" February 18, 2013
President Obama’s chief of staff said Sunday that the White House had ‘‘grave concern’’ that national security was at risk, given the Senate Republicans’ delaying tactics in confirming both a new Pentagon chief and a director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The chief of staff, Denis McDonough, made the comment on ABC’s ‘‘This Week,’’ one of several Sunday shows where he made debut appearances as the top White House adviser.
He was reacting to the likelihood that neither former Senator Chuck Hagel, Obama’s nominee to be defense secretary, nor John O. Brennan, the president’s choice for the CIA, would get a Senate vote until late this month at the earliest.
Senate Republicans blocked Hagel’s confirmation on Thursday with the first-ever filibuster against a defense secretary nominee, citing his views on Israel, Iran, and Iraq, and his general unpopularity among some of them....
Is that a reason to vote no?
With the Senate now on a 10-day recess, some Republicans have expressed hope that in the meantime conservative groups will find information in the effort to defeat Hagel.
They already would have.
‘‘It’s a grave concern,’’ McDonough said of the delay. ‘‘If you look at Chuck Hagel — decorated war veteran himself, war hero, Republican senator, somebody who over the course of the last many years, either as a Republican senator or as a chairman of the president’s Intelligence Advisory Board, I’ve worked with very closely. This guy has one thing in mind: how do we protect the country?’’
The White House and Senate Democrats have continued to express confidence that both men will be confirmed.
Democrats, who have the majority in the Senate, have enough votes to approve both nominees, but they do not have the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster. With four Republicans joining Democrats to allow a vote on Hagel, he was just one vote short of overcoming the hurdle last week.
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"Hagel has necessary votes to become defense chief" by Donna Cassata | Associated Press, February 22, 2013
WASHINGTON — Barring any new, damaging information, Chuck Hagel has secured the necessary votes for the Senate to confirm him to be the nation’s next defense secretary. A vote ending the bitter fight over President Obama’s choice for his revamped second-term, national security team is expected next week.
Hagel cleared the threshold when Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, a five-term Republican, said he would vote for the former GOP senator from Nebraska after joining other Republicans last week in an unprecedented filibuster of the Pentagon nominee.
‘‘He’s probably as good as we’re going to get,’’ Shelby said in an interview with an Alabama newspaper.
Obama's cabinet is like a box of chocolates.
Although a Republican, Hagel has faced strong GOP opposition, with many of his former colleagues voting last week to stall the nomination. Republicans have questioned Hagel’s support for Israel, tolerance of Iran, and willingness to cut the nuclear arsenal. His opposition to the Iraq war after his initial vote for the conflict angered his onetime friend, Senator John McCain of Arizona.
GOP lawmakers demanded more time to review the nomination that a divided Armed Services Committee had approved on a party-line vote.
Shelby’s support was a clear sign of weakening Republican opposition, and it prompted two letters within hours from Hagel’s fiercest GOP foes. One letter went to the president calling on him to withdraw the nomination, the other to GOP senators pleading with them to stand together against Hagel.
Fifteen Republican senators wrote that Hagel lacks the bipartisan support and confidence to serve in the vital job of defense secretary.
‘‘The occupant of this critical office should be someone whose candidacy is neither controversial nor divisive,’’ wrote the senators — all opponents of Hagel. Leading the effort was Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the party’s second in command in the Senate, who is up for reelection next year.
One name missing from the letter was McCain, who has called Hagel unqualified but indicated last Sunday that he wouldn’t stand in the way of a Senate vote.
Separately, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, sent a letter to his GOP colleagues urging them to vote again to block the nomination when the Senate returns from its recess next week. He acknowledged the reality that if the GOP fails to block a vote, Hagel proponents have the votes to approve him on an up-or-down vote.
‘‘Make no mistake: A vote for cloture is a vote to confirm Senator Hagel as secretary of defense,’’ wrote Inhofe. He said that while the Senate traditionally defers to presidents on their Cabinet choices, ‘‘our nation is at war. The Senate must insist on confirming only the most effective leaders.’’
The Senate Republicans’ closed-door weekly meeting on Tuesday will be crucial to Inhofe’s hopes of keeping the GOP in line on Hagel....
If confirmed, Hagel, a twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran, would succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who is stepping down after four years first as CIA director and then Pentagon chief.
In a boost for Hagel’s nomination, former Republican leader Bob Dole, a decorated World War II veteran, issued a statement Thursday saying, ‘‘Hagel’s wisdom and courage make him uniquely qualified to be secretary of defense and lead the men and women of our armed forces.’’
Hagel is expected to get all 55 Democratic votes and the support of three Republicans — Senators Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, and Shelby. Two other Republicans — Senators Susan M. Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — voted last week to allow the nomination to move ahead and are expected to do the same next week, giving Hagel the requisite 60 votes out of 100 necessary to end a filibuster.
An up-or-down vote on confirmation, with only a majority necessary, could occur as early as Wednesday.
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Maybe it should be handsome Hagel, huh?
Related: Senate plans test vote on Chuck Hagel nomination
Senate confirms Hagel as defense secretary
"Hagel will lead Defense Dept. as Senate OK’s pick; Contentious process ended in close vote" by Jeremy W. Peters | New York Times, February 27, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense Tuesday after a bruising bout with Republicans, while President Obama’s nominee to be Treasury secretary moved closer to approval with bipartisan support. The votes suggested that the Republican blockade against the administration’s second-term nominees was beginning to ease.
Oh, Lew sailed through, huh?
After escaping a filibuster from members of his own party, Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, prevailed in a 58 to 41 vote — the smallest margin for a defense secretary since the position was created in 1947, according to Senate records....
The narrow victory raised questions about whether Hagel would arrive at the Pentagon as a diminished leader as it faces deep budget cuts set to take effect on Friday....
Even if these efforts serve only to inconvenience the White House and cause the president and his nominees mild political damage, Republicans say they are satisfied they are forcing the confirmation process to be deliberative.
Were you happy with the s***-show fooley, 'murka?
“Probably the best known power of the United States Senate is advise and consent,” said Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican. “Movies have been made about it, books have been written about it. It’s what we do. And we’d be derelict in our duty if we didn’t examine the qualification of our president’s cabinet.”
Stop it with the self-adulation, will ya?
But Democrats said the process, particularly with Hagel, had hardly been reflective, let alone worthy of the Senate.
Senator Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, allowed that Republican colleagues were entitled to questions. “But I understand that Jack Lew had 638 questions that he had to answer from one senator,” she said. “Now, really? If you don’t want the guy or gal, vote against them. But don’t drag it out. That’s not politics, that’s petulance.”
Who was that senator (some short investigating seemed to indicate it was Jeff Sessions of Alabama)?
Republicans in the Senate, joined by conservative activists, waged an all-out campaign to discredit Hagel that included digging into financial records for evidence that he was paid by anti-American groups and scouring his old speeches for signs that he was hostile to Israel. Those efforts produced little, forcing most Republicans to acquiesce after filibustering his nomination in an initial vote this month.
Related: "Friends of Hamas": The Scary-Sounding Pro-Hagel Group That Doesn't Actually Exist
So without any evidence the Lobby and their backers just MADE SOMETHING UP, huh?
But even before Hagel takes office, questions are growing about whether the fight over his confirmation will wound his ability to lead the Pentagon at a time of upheaval both at home and overseas. With a series of huge budget cuts known as the sequester set to go into effect at the end of the week, cuts that will fall hard on the Defense Department if Congress cannot negotiate a compromise, Hagel will inherit myriad challenges.
After what he has been through during the confirmation process that should be a breeze.
Asked at a Defense Department press conference whether Hagel could still be effective despite the difficult confirmation process, George Little, the Pentagon press secretary, was unambiguous: “Absolutely.”
*************************************
Privately, some Democrats were concerned. One congressional official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was alarming that Hagel was not confirmed with the broad bipartisan support that the Senate usually extends to nominees for defense secretary.
“This is unprecedented territory,” the official said. “He is not just weakened with Republicans. Just think about the Democrats who put their neck out for a Republican nominee for defense secretary. You think it was easy keeping all those Democrats on board?”
Nearly all recent defense secretaries have sailed through their final votes, usually receiving just one or two no votes.
Including, may I remind you, the war criminal Donald Rumsfeld.
The exception was John G. Tower, the nominee of President George Bush, who was defeated in a 53 to 47 floor vote amid allegations of alcohol abuse and womanizing.
Related(?):
"Senator John Heinz and former Senator John Tower had served on powerful Senate banking and finance committees and were outspoken critics of the Federal Reserve and the Eastern Establishment. On April 4, 1991, Senator John Heinz was killed in a plane crash near Philadelphia. On the next day, April 5, 1991, former Senator John Tower was also killed in a plane crash. The coincidences seem to mount."
And now Theresa Heinz's new husband is the Secretary of State? That is a coincidence!
Hagel was the only nominee for defense secretary to face a filibuster....
The vote on Tuesday brought to a close an unusually contentious nomination fight, one that surprised many in Washington for how personal and bitter it became.
All because of Israel.
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"Hagel meets with Pentagon staff after being sworn in
WASHINGTON — Chuck Hagel really wanted one of Washington’s toughest jobs.
Introducing himself to Pentagon workers shortly after taking the oath of office, Hagel said he was humbled by the opportunity and ready for the challenge.
He survived a contentious confirmation process in which some Republican senators questioned his suitability for the job and suggested he lacked the character to lead the military.
‘‘I’ll be honest, I’ll be direct, I’ll expect the same from you,’’ he told a standing-room-only audience of several hundred civilian Defense Department workers and members of the military. ‘‘I’ll never ask anyone to do anything I wouldn’t do.’’
He called the automatic budget cuts due to take effect on Friday — which include $46 billion in Pentagon reductions — ‘‘a reality’’ that ‘‘we need to deal with.’’
That's a good start.
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Good to see him smiling again.
