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President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Pentagon, former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel, will likely be confirmed next week, one of his most dogged opponents said Sunday.
"I'm confident that Sen. Hagel will probably have the votes necessary to be confirmed as secretary of defense," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
After Senate Republicans voted to sustain a filibuster and block the former Nebraska senator's nomination from advancing toward confirmation, McCain acknowledged that Hagel will likely win confirmation once the chamber returns from its recess.
Arizona Sen. John McCain visits Meet the Press to discuss the ongoing battles in Washington over Chuck Hagel's defense secretary nomination, the sequester and government spending, and the Benghazi incident investigation.
"I think it's a reasonable amount of time to have questions answered," McCain said of the week-and-a-half-long window which Senate Republicans demanded to pore more thoroughly over their former colleague's records.
Democrats and the Obama administration have complained that a filibuster for a defense secretary nominee is without precedent. Moreover, they argue that filling the defense post is particularly urgent given outgoing Secretary Leon Panetta's plans to leave the Pentagon, and the looming "sequester" of automatic spending cuts, which fall heavily upon the defense budget.
The administration publicly shrugged off, though, the notion that the delay had damaged Hagel's ability to serve effectively.
"No, he's not going to be a weaker defense secretary," said Denis McDonough, the president's new chief of staff, "he's going to be a great defense secretary."
Wrapped up into the GOP's objections are the desire to ding the administration, a demand for fuller answers to the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and personal quarrels with Hagel over his criticism of President George W. Bush and the handling of the war in Iraq. McCain denied, though, that Republicans' attacks on Hagel were personal in nature.
"99 percent of it has to do with the positions Sen. Hagel has taken," he said.
The Hagel fight has consumed Congress in recent weeks, threatening to expend Obama's political capital as he enters a second term. It's yet to be seen whether this fight, and the looming fight to replace the sequester with other equivalent savings, would affect other elements of the Obama agenda — including gun control, and immigration.
Amid a New York Times report that suggested the White House had pushed ahead with its own immigration bill, McDonough said it was consistent with Obama's promise to simply be prepared with his own alternative plan. Obama, McDonough said, was still hoping that a bipartisan Senate group would be able to produce its own comprehensive immigration reform proposal.
"I believe we're making progress on a bipartisan basis," said McCain, a member of the eight-member, bipartisan Senate group working on the immigration proposal. The Arizona senator said, though, that Obama had had no communications with the Senate group.
"Does the president really want a result?" asked McCain, reflecting Republicans' concerns on the politics of immigration. "Or does he want another cudgel so he can beat up Republicans to get an advantage in the next election?"
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Luckyboy:
Do you still beat your wife?
These types of questions deserve no answer.
Right, and Rumsfeld was the greatest Sec of Defense ever................both McCain and Lindsey supported him with no reservations whatsoever.
rumsfeld is held to be a war criminal by 14 countries not including malaysia. Hagel is about as clean as they come, and it's the most conservative pick obama has had yet. Republicans need to swallow their pride and realize obama has been bipartisan all along, they've just been too deep in Hannity, McConnell, limbaugh, ad the right wing propaganda machine to see it.
I have lost what little respect I had left for Senator McCain.To his credit, although he did rebuke Senator Cruz, he is obviously using this to settle a personal grudge, which is not what he was elected to do. He has publicly admitted as much. To hold up a nomination and say it will go through in a week is childish at best, and just further illustrates the blatant obstructionism within that party. I hope the Senator plans to retire at the end of this term while he still has some dignity.
What do you expect from cowardly republicRATs? They talk a good game but, underneath all the bluster, they are gutless, spineless weasels.
We need new leadership!
With all the negatives against the GOP recently you would at least think THEY could get their act together when it comes to common sense and party survival. Can't they keep this cranky old buzzard quiet? After the debacle of the last election one would hope SOMEONE in the GOP is working to get a clue. Ignoring the Tea Baggers isn't enough. They WANTED them when they thought the country went dumb enough to support those goofy candidates (can you believe a few of them WON?). But you can take the top 5 GOP spokespersons and put 'em in a blender and STILL not get anyone ranking higher than 3rd.
Duqu:
The "friends of hammas" has not been proven to exist has it? The only evidence of it's existence it a blog on Breitbart.com is it not? You "demand" answers from date ranges no other appointee in history has been asked to answer. The only agenda you and your kind have is to destroy the character of a good man. More made up crap by the wing nuts to discredit a war hero. This man has actually shed blood in combat, he has served this Nation with honor and has been decorated for his service and yet you and your ilk attempt to demean his character.
obama smart buch dumb
Republicans eating their own, doesn't get any better than this.
i am glad i hate to read ,
but all you are stupid,
WHAT
, i seen some words in here that said stupid , dum. and not bright right in the head , will we are glad you all are not in politics, as we have jack ases on one side and a big as elephant on the other , what do we call the rest ummm, i m a thinking , i got it,
an as pulling a cart,
i hope i didnt hurt all your fillings here , but i think i have covered just about all you all, here,
as i go to some other page i will see some other people talk about sh it , they think they know all about it , and man it must be nice to be that smart, . i will be nice now and go,
warpigs was here,
It's a rare opportunity to witness a person that's wears his illiteracy proudly.
Rage on, dude.
You'll know better when you get into second grade next year-Heritage.
Ya know, I used to have some respect and admiration for John McCain, even though I am a Democrat. Of course then he went and picked Sara who??? for his VP. Ouch! But since losing that election, he has continued to become increasingly right-wing and at times downtown UNREASONABLE in his thinking. Senility, perhaps? John, I don't know you any more...
babyboomer: since you are one...I feel compelled to tell you that the definition of the word "senility" is "characterizing old age." It has nothing to do with the function of one's brain...or, in other words, it is not to be confused with the word dementia.
I have a bachelor's in psychology, and juanita you are incorrect. Being senile means to be set in one's ways to the point where even with direct, infallible proof, one cannot be convinced otherwise DUE TO the limitations of their brain connective patterns set in by old age.
Patrick: you sir are the one that's incorrect...according to the Webster's dictionary...I think that those that set the standards for this dictionary come with higher and more impressive credentials than your undergrad degree.
McCain is nothing but an irrelevant bag of wind.
Kevin: so, what makes you an expert and an authority on "bags of wind"? Do you speak from experience?
Juanita, have you been watching mccain these last 5 years? It's been nothing but bitterness since he lost to obama, and he can't even concede the point obama is being more bipartisan than any republican president of the last 20 years by appointing a seriously conservative man as secretary of defense.
Patrick: ...from a Democrat's point of view; if a Republican does not agree with you then they are therefore an obstructionist...it just couldn't mean that Republicans don't agree with Democrats based on substance.
Comrades:
The #2 irrelevant cracker in the country, McCain, is interested in only one thing: getting back at the President over his '08 loss, and pouting that he and Little Miss Sunshine aren't running the country today (incidentally, Cheney is the undisputed #1 white devil). I particularly enjoy how McBush prattles on about how he is Hagel's friend. Really? How exactly does this fossil define 'friend'.
Hagel, BTW, did himself no favor in the hearings: underwhelming performance, in a word. Nevertheless, there is something I like about him. Unlike virtually all in Congress--and especially the chickenhawk Republicans--this guy actually had people shooting at him in the 'Nam. Moreover, I doubt he'll immediately race over to Israel to ask their permission on how he should perform his job.
McCain is about to lose this one...
Stop rattling your swords because we know neither sides means it. I distrust every (yes every) political figure. In another few months the campaigns will begin again, empty promises, then elected. Hook up for lifetime retirement, lifetime premier healthcare, lifetime perks, and sit on their butts and do nothing. There are NO political figures protecting the public, all they have done is divide us and we are being conquered. If you want to know what's next ... read history.
Ahhhhh, if only there were some way to get rid of McCain. What a blowhard.
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004), O'Connor, J. "We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens. "
Well Mr. McCain do you remember Nam the POW camp and what you did their. Mr Hagel did not try to sell out like a sen from AZ.
so what was the point of the delay...so the GOP can think they have the power and can waste time and money playing games...guess we will see in 2014 the games the GOP will play to try stay in office...
In 1984 when Jesse Jackson unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination, there was a joke going around that went something like this.
Jesse was having a talk with The Almighty
Jesse: Lord will there ever be a female President of these United States?
God: Not in your time Jesse
Jesse: Lord will there ever be a Hispanic President of these United States?
God: Not in your time Jesse
Jesse: Lord will there ever be a Black President of these United States?
God: Not in MY time Jessee
And this is the underlying torment that has Red state and their politicians behaving in such treasonous ways. They can no longer count on what they considered an entitlement of their existence.
Just proves again how corrupt these criminal politicians are today. Tell everyone how crooked each one is, how they lack any fix or brains what so ever, Just like their god and king O-Abomination. Then probably get paid again to conform and just let the crooks thrive in this government today. They all work together to take the American peoples tax dollars and they all bitch about how corrupt each one is and then at the end of their deceptions and greed, they go have coffee together and laugh again at all you stupid puppets on a string...
Obama plus Kerry plus Hagel = bringing a knife to a gun fight
...I look to France for our foreign policy
...republicans can't get organized and deserve what they get.
It's pathetic that they are wasting so much time when there are so many things to be done. McCain says he will be confirmed but not before we play this silly game - now they're threatening Jack Lu - and this morning, McCain says the immigration plan that has been leaked will be ignored - it's a game that I hope Americans all over the country are sick and tired of watching. This country deserves more than it has been getting from the do-nothing congress. I can't wait for 2014 - if Americans don't dump most of the nay-sayers I will be very disappointed. We have major issues to work through and they are more interested in taking vacations and playing games with our system that sitting down and getting done what they were elected to do.
These imbeciles judge Hagel's performance at the hearings as enough evidence to deny him a vote? Yet the same amoeba brains laud Rubio the Gulper as meriting the Presidency based on his prime time performance? If he collapsed under the lights after 5 minutes of teleprompter, can you picture him addressing the UN, the G8, or NATO meetings? He'll have to wear Attends or Pampers to contain the fluids (both, front and back).
While Hagel, a Viet Nam hero with a stellar record, gave his all to defend our country, these new breed of Senators, who never came close to joining the Armed Forces in their parasitical lives, are behaving like petite standard bearers of McCarthyism ,questioning this American hero's patriotism.
McCain makes no sense whatsoever. Something is wrong with the man. But then there is something wrong with the whole congress right now. No one is working for our country any more. It is all about their political objectives. Very disheartening.
I never thought I would see the Day when Americans Turned there back on America, So many Traitors. It is Unbelievable. Trading there souls and votes for what a ConMan. Just disgusting.
That is the result of greed fostered by reagan and nixon. That is the result of blind conservatism and blind liberalism. They've been turned sideways and no one sees it or knows how it happened.
I can Guarantee that the Oath I took years ago, is still in place to defend the Constitution, and that the Vast Majority of Vets will Not let America Die, and will Fight to preserve it, Hot or Cold, the fight is on, Its your choice Traitors.
Just know who the real enemy is you shell-shocked loon.
Loon?? Hardly, Interesting, yep the Enemy is Obama and his Minion's, are you one of them Blindly following the Fake President? Ahh another Illiterate to Block (Patrick)
I voted for a true conservative, gary johnson. It's you who doesnt realize both the democrats and republicans are in bed with each other screwing everyone else in the middle. Have you never taken notice that democrats have never voluntarily taken the armed forces to war (only by forced treaty) whereas republican have done it 6 times in our history? Have you not noticed that when veterans' benefit bills come up, they're drafted by democrats and shot down by republicans, and yet YOU vote republican blindly? I have news for you, shell-shocked loon, your party is not even trying to act in your best interests or anyone else's but the top .5%. this is also true of the democrats, but do not act so self-righteously when you are so ignorant of reality.
Patrick: "shell shocked loon"...is that an official psychological diagnosis?
juanita, God bless you. You appear to be at least one Hispanic that hasn't drank the kool-aid.
Duqu-McCarthyism??? What the Drudge or any anti-Islam reports makes its way back to Fox News, Hannity, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul all repeat it. Example and anti-Islam web site reports weapons from Libya being sent to Turkey. Hannity also reported the live tapes were available which was a lie. What was available were surveillance tapes that were eventually presented during the hearings. Let's just throw things out there and see what sticks.
To McCains credit he did reject Ted Cruz' remarks that attacked Hagels integrity.
Should McCain be concerned about his legacy he can be sure that he has damaged himself with his actions and rhetoric that will last a lifetime. He was once considered a "Maverick" but now considered a "Bitter Old Man"; once he championed immigration and now it's build that dang fence after being bitten by the tea party.
FYI-Hagel had nothing to do with Benghazi so this is the GOP's way of going after Obama. Ron Johnson asked Kerry during a hearing for the truth about Benghazi and Kerry pointed out had he attended the briefings as he did he would have known what happened in Benghazi. Or when McCain couldn't wait to get in front of the cameras with a press confernce while hearings were being held on Benghazi but when asked why did he choose the conference over the hearings on Benghazi while protesting loudly, "I want information on Benghazi", his response as usual was to get angry with the press.
It's for sure that many will not stop throwing out things that are not evidence based but remember there are others who actually are more aware.