Chuck Hagel testifies on Jan. 31. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Striking a blow at President Barack Obama, Senate Republicans on Thursday delayed former Sen. Chuck Hagel?s confirmation as defense secretary in a mostly party-line procedural vote. Democrats denounced the move as an unprecedented partisan play on national security.
Senators voted 58-40 to end debate on the former senator and decorated Vietnam War veteran?s nomination, falling short of the 60 needed to proceed to a final up-or-down vote. But even Republicans opposed to Hagel predicted that he would win confirmation after a 10-day recess, insisting lawmakers just needed more time to assess Obama's choice to succeed Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.
"This is not any attempt to kill this nomination," John Cornyn of Texas, the chamber's number-two Republican, said after the vote. Cornyn, a fierce Hagel critic, said the vote was "premature" and the result of the White House rejecting "reasonable requests" for information, notably about the nominee's finances and past speeches. (The White House had moved a few hours earlier to defuse complaints tied to information about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya).
Just four Republicans -- Susan Collins of Maine, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mike Johanns from Hagel?s home state of Nebraska -- joined the chamber?s Democrats and their two independent allies in supporting Hagel. Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch voted present.
"I regret that Republican senators, except for the valiant four, chose to filibuster the nomination," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scolded.
Several GOP lawmakers who are all-but-certain to oppose Hagel?s confirmation, notably John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have said they will support ending debate after recess.
?Senator Hagel is going to be confirmed, if not tomorrow then when the Senate returns from recess,? an Obama Administration official said in an email to reporters. "The drama has left the building," a Republican leadership aide told Yahoo News.
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