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Pres. Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defence
In recent weeks a number of prominent Republicans have said they would oppose Hagel’s nomination. On Sunday, Republican lawmakers made clear he would face a tough nomination process.
“This is an in-your-face nomination by the president to all of us who are supportive of Israel,” South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I don’t know what his management experience is regarding the Pentagon, little, if any, so I think it’s an incredibly controversial choice.”
Many Republicans contend that Hagel, who left the Senate in 2008, at times opposed Israel’s interests. He voted several times against U.S. sanctions on Iran, and made disparaging remarks about the influence of what he called a “Jewish lobby” in Washington.
Hagel has also been critical of the size of the American military, telling the Financial Times in 2011 that the Defense Department was “bloated” and needed “to be pared down.”
An editorial in The Washington Post last month said that given the scale of the cuts Hagel seeks, he was “not the right choice” for defense secretary.
Senate minority Leader Mitch McConnell said “there would be a lot of tough questions of Senator Hagel.”
