Senate to vote on moving ahead on Hagel nod

DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press


Twelve days after Republicans stalled the nomination, the Senate was slated to vote Tuesday on proceeding with the Hagel selection after GOP lawmakers signaled late Monday they would end their delaying tactics. If Hagel gets the necessary votes, it would just be a matter of time for a simple up-or-down vote, although Republicans could insist on the maximum 30 hours of debate before a final vote.


Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he was optimistic about the vote's outcome and said it was critical for the Senate to act quickly.

"Given sequestration, it's really important that we have a secretary of defense who is in place when that hits, if it hits," Levin told reporters Monday. "I want to still say 'if' because I'm a perennial optimist."


The president got no points with the GOP for tapping the former two-term senator and twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran. Republican lawmakers excoriated Hagel over his past statements and votes. They argued that he was too critical of Israel and too compromising with Iran. They cast the Nebraskan as a radical far out of the mainstream.









