Hagel Would Face Uphill Battle For Pentagon’s Top Job If Picked By Obama

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sen-chuck-hagelChuck Hagel likely would face opposition from both liberals and conservatives for his past stances and comments if President Obama nominates the former Republican senator for the top spot at the Pentagon — as sources tell Fox News is expected, as early as next week.

Hagel’s name has been floated around Washington for weeks as Obama’s top choice for the next secretary of defense, but pro-Israel groups, conservatives and gay rights organizations all have raised objections, respectively citing comments he made about a gay former diplomat and his views on Iran and Israel.

Confirmation hearings wouldn’t be easy.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has signaled he’ll move to block the bid unless Hagel withdraws his opposition to the U.S. trade embargo against Castro’s Cuba.

Other lawmakers have expressed concern over Hagel’s resistance to sanctions against Iran and to the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

The White House has had to come to the former Nebraska senator’s defense multiple times since word leaked that he may be considered for a spot in Obama’s Cabinet.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have spoken out against his bid.

Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, a Republican, blasted Hagel in an interview with radio host Tom Rose.

“Chuck has alienated an awful lot of people,” Coats said. “There have been grace concerns about this possible nomination among Republicans and among people who know and have served with Chuck Hagel. We watched Chuck take positions that are, frankly, many of them are to the left of Barack Obama.”

He continued: “Hagel has moved from a conservative Republican coming out of Nebraska to someone that looks like they are out of the most leftist state in the country and exceeding even a lot of Democrats, who also have concerns about his ideology and where he is coming from. I think it would be a mistake for the president to put his nomination up.”

When asked about the pulse of Republicans on Hagel, Sen. Linsey Graham, R-S.C., told Chris Wallace on Sunday, “I can tell you there would be very little Republican support for his nomination. At the end of the day, there will be very few votes.”

But there are some supporters and they point to his infantry service in Vietnam – where he was awarded two Purple Hearts – as proof that he’s qualified to lead the department. Hagel also served as the deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration during the Reagan administration, as well as the head of the USO, and was co-author of the 9/11 GI bill.

Read more: FOX NEWS

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Who are we kidding? Obama doesn’t care for anyone else’s opinion, Hagel is right up his alley as an Israel-hating ‘diplomat’. He will be confirmed and with Kerry and Obama wreak havoc on Israel. Anybody think otherwise? There may be a lot of noise first but this is a done deal.

  2. The policy of Matzav is to not use the actual terrible term “—,” but to instead use the term (that our Torah HaKdosha uses for that terrible thing) “Toeiva.”

    That Mr. Hagel made a remark about a certain former diplomat that the diplomat was an extreme Toeiva guy would probably be a bit of a GOOD THING that he did. (There is no indication that Mr. Hagel is against Toeiva; rather, he just said that a certain diplomat was an extreme one.)

    Of course though, with his other very problematic attitudes, we should be Mispallel that he does not become the director of the United States’ Department of Defense.

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