Chuck Hagel Loses Altitude [View all]
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Source: BuzzFeed
Critics say White House silence “telling.”
Zeke Miller
BuzzFeed Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2012 4:28pm EST
WASHINGTON — Former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s chances of being Barack Obama’s Secretary of Defense are quickly dimming, as critics point to the White House’s silence in the face of questions about the Nebraska Republican’s record.
“I think [Sunday] was Chuck Hegel's obituary on the morning shows,” said senior GOP senate aide and frequent Hagel critic in reference to Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer refusing to say if they would support him. “The White House got final answer that a Hagel nomination would be dead on arrival so now they move on to [Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton] Carter or [former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle]Flournoy. Either of those two would get Republican support.”
Hagel, a Republican realist skeptical of American military action in Iran and elsewhere, has drawn fierce criticism from Republican and Democratic hawks. He has faced questions, in particular, about his support for Israel, and criticism for referring to the “Jewish lobby” and a Clinton-era ambassadorial nominee as “openly aggressively gay." But the White House has offered few words of support for Hagel, an Obama administration appointee and an ally of the president’s.
“What I can tell you is that Sen. Hagel fought and bled for his country,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters last week, refusing to comment on specific criticisms. “He served his country well. He was an excellent senator.” But unlike Susan Rice, who withdrew her name for consideration to head the State Department amid Republican criticism of her statements after the Benghazi attack in September, Hagel is all on his own, making an organized and forceful defense from the Obama administration even more necessary.
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Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/chuck-hagel-loses-altitude
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