US President Barack Obama will nominate former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to be his defence secretary, and an announcement could come on Monday (today), a congressional Democratic aide said on Sunday.
The choice will likely set up a confirmation battle in the Senate over whether the former Nebraska senator strongly supports key US ally Israel. Hagel also has been criticised for comments he made questioning the effectiveness of sanctions on Iran for its nuclear programme. This fight would come after the Obama administration backed down from a tough Senate confirmation battle over Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the United Nations who was Obama’s first pick to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Rice withdrew her name from consideration after drawing heavy fire from Republicans for remarks she made in the aftermath of a Sept. 11 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya. “The administration has a lot of work to do on Hagel. He is in a weaker position now than Rice ever was because Rice would have rallied Democrats behind her,” a Senate Democratic aide said.
President Obama to name Hagel as defence secretary
