The Senate Armed Services Committee voted today to send Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense to the full Senate on a party line vote, and after a hearing in which the contentiousness between committee members was palpable:
(Reuters) – A Senate panel approved Chuck Hagel as President Barack Obama’s new secretary of defense on Tuesday, setting the stage for a vote on his confirmation by the full Senate as soon as later this week.
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 14-11, with one senator voting “no instruction,” along party lines to approve the former Nebraska Republican senator’s confirmation to succeed Leon Panetta as the leader at the Pentagon.
The day began with the somewhat unusual event of every member of the committee being given the opportunity to explain their vote beforehand. As you could expect, Republican members of the Committee continued their bizarre assault on Hagel’s past statements on Israel and Iran. What was truly interesting,, though, was the rather obvious extent of just how raw the nerves of many members on both sides of the aisle have become over this nomination. One wonders what this will mean going forward.
Right now, it’s expected that the Senate will vote on Hagel’s nomination on Thursday.
