Republicans Pan Potential Kerry, Rice Nominations

Source: Buzzfeed

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans roundly criticized the potential nomination of UN Ambassador Susan Rice to become the next Secretary of State Monday, warning her handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack could make confirmation extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Washington Post reported the Rice trial balloon as part of a possible nomination of Sen. John Kerry as Defense Secretary, a move that would make Rice an "almost certain" pick to head the State Department.

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"I cannot imagine promoting anybody associated with Benghazi at this point," the South Carolina senator said on CBS Face The Nation, stopping short of threatening a hold or filibuster on the potential pick.

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"Whether fair to her or not, Susan Rice has become the posterchild for congressional suspicions of a coverup of the attack on our consulate in Benghazi," the aide side. "If the President sent up a Rice nomination, you'd just have one more committee holding hearings, asking questions and sifting through documents with a media drum beat on Benghazi - not the start I'd imagine he wants for the second term. If a Kerry nomination comes up, Republicans will probably dredge up every email, document, memo, and diplomatic cable surrounding Kerry's role as unofficial envoy to Bashir Assad, forcing another difficult Obama foreign policy into the forefront - and who knows what embarrassing things we'll find. In the end, while both Rice and Kerry would likely win confirmation in the end, the administration just needs to weigh the costs of weeks of hearings and questions on Benghazi and Syria."


Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/republicans-pan-potential-white-house-push-for-ker