E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSMultiple sources on Capitol Hill and in key special-interest groups involved in national security issues say they have been told to be prepared for a Chuck Hagel nomination for Defense Secretary, either as early as Monday or perhaps more likely Tuesday of next week.
Related: Former Sen. Chuck Hagel apologizes for gay comment
While it's still possible for the president to have a change of heart, all signs are pointing to a Hagel nomination.
When President Barack Obama returns to Washington this weekend, he will still have two big cabinet posts to fill and the current favorite for Secretary of Defense – Chuck Hagel – is taking heat on a range of issues. Obama 2012 traveling press secretary Jen Pskai and former RNC Chairman Michael Steele discuss.
That said, a White House spokesperson tells NBC News pretty emphatically that the president has not made a final decision and does not expect the president to make a final decision until he gets back from Hawaii.
The White House spokesperson adds, the "chatter" about Hagel-as-the-pick in the national-security and Capitol Hill communities is "premature." That said this spokesperson acknowledged Hagel is a "leading contender."
For what it's worth, the reason a lot of outside sources are being given a heads up on Hagel is that the White House knows if Hagel is indeed the president's choice, it's going to be a real fight.
President Obama responds to criticism of Chuck Hagel as a potential replacement for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
Hagel's 2008 statement that "the Jewish lobby" intimidates many lawmakers has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, and some have painted him as weak on defense issues. Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, a top-ranking Jewish senator, passed on the opportunity to offer an endorsement for Hagel during an appearance on Meet the Press, while Republican Sen. John Cornyn called his positions on Iran and nuclear weapons "unacceptable."
Hagel also recently apologized for his 1998 opposition to an ambassadorial nominee whom he described as "openly, aggressively gay."
There are as many as 10 Democratic senators who could vote no, Capitol Hill sources say. But Hagel has some big backers besides the president who would become the key point people in getting Hagel over the finish line – Vice President Joe Biden and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, both of whom are huge proponents of Hagel.
Asked on MSNBC’s Morning Joe about the opposition to Hagel, Obama political adviser David Axelrod defended the former Republican Nebraska senator.
“It speaks to the larger problem that we’re talking about, which is, we have to get the point, where, first of all, independence is admired and not discouraged, and we can disagree on some things and still work together on others,” Axelrod said. “And the notion that we demonize people because of a position that they’ve taken and disqualify them on that basis is what’s destroying the ability to get things done in this town.”
Dave Kaup / Reuters
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) leaves a news conference in Omaha, Nebraska in this March 12, 2007, file photo.
Bottom line: It appears to be Hagel, but the White House says no final decision has been made.
News of the expected nomination was first reported by Foreign Policy magazine's The Cable blog.
Leave a Comment:
JR: Really boring post, but then again you belong to the GOP/TP nut crowd.
While we are talking choosing senators for Secy of Defense, how about Lindsay Graham? I believe he has or was a USAF pilot, knows defense appropriations inside and out, is well respected on both sides of the aisle, and hasn't said reprehensible things like Hagel. Mr. President, if you are reading this, think of our 16th president and his cabinet. I think Secy Stanton was an opponent of Honest Abe at one point, but eventually put aside his differences with Abe Lincoln when the country needed the two of them to work together.
I think John Kerry would make a fine Secy of State. I am putting my own hat in the ring for EPA Administrator. There is no common sense at the EPA anymore. I can definitely restore that and not let businesses pillage Mother Nature at the same time.
Yes TOM, there is no longer any common sense at the EPA. Those dirty bastards are actually holding corporations accountable for poisoning our air, water and the planet in genera. What filthy swine, it's downright unAmerican. Now if the GOP were running the show, you can bet you last dollar that the EPA would be in bed with corporate America and all would be well with the world. Can you imagine, BP had just a little, itty, bitty oil spill some time back on the Gulf Coast and that bum Obama actually made them cough up 20 billion to offset some of the damage. What a Commie, eh fella??? Now if Dubya had been at the helm, he'd just let them give him a nice campaign donation and then forget the whole thing.
Oh, and BTW, good ole boy Lindsay was in the navy. I believe he was a JAG. Regardless, he is a weasel and I wouldn't trust him worth a damn.
Well Ozzie, tell us where the EPA has Constitutional Authority? Cite the Section for us
Holding corporations accountable....lol.....more like blackmailing and coercing corporations and stalling any sort of reasonable growth in the US based on a near fanatic religious type ideology. If it was about clean air and water that would be one thing. It is about zero growth......no wonder business are wising up and leaving.
Can you imagine Obama giving a speech like this one given by a past president?
I believe the attack on your mind is??
Elvis the question is do you approve of these words by a past president or not?
yeah we once had 2 towers????now what is this about do not let the enemy come to Us??..now lets read a book to some children
Gods says if you fight by the sword you will die by the sword...do you understand this.....if your hate a man.that is different than you..you have already sin..you have already killed that person
the question isn't difficult for the average adult elvis- but perhaps it's too difficult for you.
Do you agree with this past president or is he a Christian warmonger?
the christian party ..there name now tea party...are and is the enemy to the world..and your to blind to see it
No, just an enemy to democrats, just like a balanced budget would spell the end to democrats.
Oh, like conservatives ever balanced a budget.....
President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign has been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for reporting violations related to a set of donations received during the final days of the campaign.
The fines are among the largest ever levied on a presidential campaign by the FEC and stem from a series of missing filings for nearly 1,200 contributions totaling nearly $1.9 million.
You don't say?
The tea party they hold the bible in hand.preach of war..gun and GOD..but are evil just like the scribes and Pharisees..
Is that as bad as the democrat mantra of theft, greed and immorality?
God says give what is Cesar to Cesar and to God what is God right??
So I ask you again elvis- was this president honorable or a Christian warmonger?
Can you imagine Obama giving a speech like this one given by a past president?
The tea party is what God is warning us about..people...they preach of God and war...yes people you are to blind to see..there ideas..to there calling...using God name.for there evil Ideas in the future
afraid to answer elvis?
if you fight by the sword you will die by the sword...that's to all..i have answered you but your blind
Are direct answers too difficult for you? Do you think that president was wrong or right?
Gods word..is not one side fella..is it to hard for you to understand ..you preach of God all the time..but have no idea..of his message
Are direct answers too difficult for you? Do you think that president was wrong or right?
You keep insulting others but refuse to even give simple yes or no answers. You are moral coward
And as to God, after seeing your posts for quite a while I'm 100% confident you have no idea about God, who He is, and His message.
larry what is Gods mark
What does "God's mark" have to do with this?
read what you just said..know what is Gods mark
Again- What does "God's mark" have to do with this?
Saturday the 7 day is the lords mark...not Sunday the day of the sun..yes you worship God ..on a pagan day..Sunday the 1st day of the week..that was change by Constantine of Rome....yes the catholic church changed the day of rest..to a pagan ritual..you are followingthe beast who change the day of rest ..the church..now remember the changed took place when there was only one Church who ruled the world..there were no baptist churches Mormon..Methodist so on
you are caring a lock of hair from her in your pocket and do not even know it
its all coming together now..all Churches are now starting to hold hands with the mother Church..that'spower for the future..the universal Church..in our Congress..of all faith now..once keep apart ..but not any more
There is NO Lord's mark for Christians
And there is NO Sabbath commandment for Christians. That is part of Jewish Law which does not apply to Christians. Christians are not under the Law of Moses according to the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles.
Not to mention:
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, Colossians 2:16
Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law” —to whom we gave no such commandment—Acts 15:24
“The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it" Luke 16:16
so Elvis are a member of the cult of Jehovah Witnesses or the cult of the Old Seventh Day Adventists (before they renounced their cultish doctrines)
I'm betting with you it's Seventh Day Adventist.
remember folks truth will be the enemy...remember what they called Christ..the devil...God has his people in alll Churches..remember that
I asked you a simple question which you still won't answer, instead you engage in a straw man about a topic that doesn't even apply to Christians much less whether the president who made the statement I quoted was right or wrong.
it was wrong.......and yes i belong to the Church
that quote was from FDR
http://www.usmm.org/fdr/emergency.html
Find it strange at all how on Nov 2nd the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 and today when it was released the 7.8 was announced as "it held the same".
And that increase was even after all of the holidays seasonal hires?
Sad - as we enter year 5 of Obama
It stayed the same ecause they screwed up in November. It shouldn't have dropped to 7.7. Why does anyone expect anything different. Obama has avoided the economy for the past 4 years and didn't have a plan to fix anything during this election. We voted based on a popularity contest, not competence and policy.
President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign - has been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for reporting violations related to a set of donations received during the final days of the campaign.
The fines - are among the largest ever levied on a presidential campaign by the FEC and stem from a series of missing filings for nearly 1,200 contributions totaling nearly $1.9 million.
Liberal Democrats - The silent/hidden rich and greedy - You don't say?
fascism in the name of God...the tea party use it the ones who believe in God . the ones who don't money has no enemy's ...scribes and pharisee of our time..they both will join hands in doing this..have yall notice
I'm going to keep coming after you elvis- you are a moral coward- you slam others but refuse to make simple yes or no declarations.
my oh my..yes Obama is a sinner
I didn't say anything about Obama- answer the question
I am posting this again -
Some of you need to read this article again. As bad as my memory is, I do believe I read that as many as 10 Democratic Senators could vote "No" on his nomination. That by my math, is about 1/5th of the Democratic Senators, and all you can muster in your posting is a bashing of the Republicans. You just gotta love the hate that is flowing in the postings.
did Bush ever hire a Democrat???
Who cares if he did or did not? Your remark means what? I made a simple statement, if you can read and understand that what I wrote is that 1/5th of the Democratic Senate would vote "No" on his confirmation, and all the Democrats who are posting are bashing the Republicans, and, again, calling on my bad memory, I do not recall a single word written that gives a number on how many GOP Senators would not support his nomination. The fact that Hagel had been a GOP Senator probably is not even known by the majority of the folks posting. Most are saying he is fully qualified, how many even know that he was in the army? And, yes he was, he was a Sergeant, and he did receive 2 Purple Hearts for wounds he received during Vietnam. I for one have no idea what he did as a Senator, which would be nice to know, because his term in the Army certainly does not qualify him to be the SECDEF.
Great choice, President Obama. All of Congress should support Mr. Chuck Hagel with their vote.
The Neocons will never support Hagel. Makes him a great choice.
“And the notion that we demonize people because of a position that they’ve taken and disqualify them on that basis is what’s destroying the ability to get things done in this town.” (David Axelrod)
This is EXACTLY what your boss did in order to get elected and you have the balls to say this? You friggin hypocrite.
If President Obama nominates the homophobic, anti-Israel and borderline anti-Semite Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, I will be very, very disappointed with the President. Not to even mention that he is an appeaser of Islamic terrorists. We have to fight tooth and nail to oppose Hagel if this happens; and we can defeat him. Both the left and right oppose him and we must make sure that the centrists understand that Chuck Hagel is unacceptable as Secretary of Defense.
We will never forget that Chuck Hagel has consistently sided with our enemies. For example, he voted to NOT designate the terror squad of the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic as a terrorist organization. As an Iranian-American, this is appalling. Instead of siding with our national security and with moral clarity, he sides with the enemy including having sided with Hamas. If the President makes this mistake, he will have opposition from the left, right, gay community etc. It would be a grave mistake by the President. Especially since he would lose a share of support from those who voted for him as I did. This is a mistake and I hope the President doesn't make the mistake. Particularly since I doubt that his nomination will get past the Senate. Too many groups of people don't like this hateful bigot and appeaser of evil.
Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic are religious fanatics. A vote on a resolution that was probably so ill defined and possibly loaded with language supporting other language not having anything to do with the first or even earmarks is not siding with a enemy. It is interesting to see that news this week shows Iran intelligence to employ up to 40,000 Iranian spy's. It seems like your countryman there support what you say you despise. The USA needs a Secretary of Defense that is a independent thinker and not beholden to sovereign foreign nations that are seeking our money and our people to fight for them. Iranians should have banded together in the 1980's and battled the Iman's for re-control but they became comfortable here and in Europe.
Yes Sass, we know, we know, I still remember Hagel siding with Napoleon in his wars, the man is bad, bad.
And then he sided with Hitler when Hitler was jailed for treason or insurrection, naughty fellow.
Neoconservatism is a branch of American conservatism that includes endorsement of political individualism, free markets and the assertive promotion of democracy and United States national interest in international affairs including by military means.
The Tea Party movement is an American political movement that advocates strict adherence to the United States Constitution, reducing U.S. government spending and taxes, and reduction of the U.S. national debt and federal budget deficit.
Now it seems to me,that the dumb bush never hired a dem.
I don't quite understand the excessive vitriol against someone who hasn't yet been nominated. Everyone has faults, and we can go back in everyone's past and find flaws.
The question is "would he make an effective Secretary of Defense"? And that question has to apply within the bounds of President Obama's foreign policy. Would he be able to deal with the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
Based on his past, he probably would be effective.
Don't take the bait Hagle.... Bad move thinking Obama is doing something for you.
Gotta love it. Rethuglicans even hate a republican getting nominated for a Gov't position! Talk about right wing extremism, teabilly, hooliganism, Hannityism, Limbaughism at it's best.
Are you really that simple? Not wanting him to get used and burned up like everyone else who follows Obama, is not the same as not wanting a republican to be in a position of authority.
"ism", man, go look up the def. I have a fondness for cookieism. ism, ism, ism, ism....
The neocons will try to stop the Hagel nomination because they abhor reducing the military industrial complex welfare budget, which pays for a lot of pork in the South. AIPAC and the Zionist movement will also scream foul, since Hagel doesn't kowtow low enough to Bibi Netanyahu nor support the Likud Party's illegal colonization of Palestine through "settlements".
South? You mean all those states that Obama has never even visited? How about Nancy Paylousy rakin' in the cash in CA from her DOD contract transfers? And where do all those parts for the machinery and weapons come from? You are not thinking correctly in your assumptions. But, you can go sift through the DOD budget expenditures on line if you want to really take the time to find out where your "pork" is really going.
@Gofigureit, if you want to change all of that, run for office yourself. Oh that's right, you belong to the YELLOW ELEPHANTS, and you can't do anything except b itch about things. It's nice to see a low informed person like you posting pure excretment that doesn't even know his subject matter. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Reduce the military budget and increase unemployment. Somewhere around 1.2 million in uniform plus an untold number building and supporting the machine. You have to be a friggin idiot to want to drastically reduce the military or a progressive.
David Axelrod speaks about Chuck Hagel being independent. It would probably be better if someone other than David Axelrod stood up for Chuck Hagel. Even Senator Schumer is gagging on this one.
Schumer's religion is Reformed Judaism and they normally supports causes of the sovereign nation of Israel 6,000 miles from New York. I think it is safe to say he sometimes does not want to upset the olive seed cart.
.
seeking sanity,my post 14 hours ago stated a couple of scenarios,i guess you think someone who deals heroin gets the same pedestal you are giving hagel,i know he made his millions on a phone deal,but insider trading seems not to bother you,if you are really seeking sanity i suggest you get back on the meds.its not bad living in the real world.