Hagel

SecDef Chuck Hagel Returns to His Personal Political Lions’ Den

By John T. Bennett in Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, International, Israel, Policy Tags: , , , , ,

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel enters his personal political lions' den Wednesday morning: the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Smithsonian National Zoological Park photo)

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.” That famous quote dates to 1598 and the “Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!” speech in William Shakespeare’s play “Henry V.” But it will apply this morning when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel faces the Senate Armed Services Committee, the panel that so roughed up Hagel during his Jan. 31 confirmation hearing.

Okay, perhaps today’s dual hearing on the Pentagon’s 2014 budget request and the situation in Syria won’t quite be Shakespearean. But make no mistake, for Hagel, if the House Armed Services Committee is something of a Capitol Hill safe haven, the Senate Armed Services Committee is his political lions’ den. More

Essay: Why GOP Defense Budget Hawks, Interventionists Are Leery of Chuck Hagel

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Afghanistan, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, International, Operations, Policy Tags: , , , ,

Chuck Hagel leaves the Capitol Hill office of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., after the duo met on Jan. 22. Nine days later, McCain grilled the now-sitting defense secretary at his confirmation hearing. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel once was a Republican United States senator. Several members of the party’s old-school defense budget hawk and interventionist wings count Hagel as an old friend. After all, his congressional voting record isn’t that different from their own records.

The GOP military spending hawks and interventionists have a few things in common. Generally, both factions believe in robust Pentagon budgets that grow above the inflation rate each year. They also, for the most part, believe in a large U.S. military that should be used frequently for all sorts of reasons, from pursuing American interests to fighting al Qaida across the Middle East and North Africa to confronting dictators and rouge states to promoting democracy worldwide.

They might consider Hagel, whose nomination they fought, an old pal. But, make no mistake, the GOP defense spending hawks and interventionists are skeptical about the new secretary because he simply is not one of them. One must look no further than Hagel’s speech Wednesday at the National Defense University in Washington to understand that. More

Photo of the Day: March 25, 2013

By Zachary Fryer-Biggs in Intercepts, Photo of the Day Tags: , ,

Then-Senators Joe Biden, John Kerry, and Chuck Hagel in Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan, February 20, 2008. (John Silson/State Department)

Before they were famous…then Senators Chuck Hagel, Joe Biden and John Kerry.  At the time the trio were mere civil servants in congress, but they now hold the positions of Secretary of Defense, Vice President, and Secretary of State respectively.

On a snowy day in Washington, the three men who serve President Obama and his foreign policy efforts standing in the snow seemed appropriate.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel

By Marcus Weisgerber in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Photo of the Day, Policy Tags:

Chuck Hagel, left, is sworn into office as the 24th defense secretary by Michael Rhodes, the Defense Department's director of administration and management, as Hagel's wife, Lilibet, holds a Bible at the Pentagon, Feb. 27,(DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley)

Chuck Hagel officially became the 24th defense secretary during a private ceremony at the Pentagon Wednesday morning.

The former Nebraska senator has a busy first day ahead of him. After meeting with senior staff, he will address military and civilian officials at the Pentagon.  More

Sen. Rand Paul’s Very Un-Tea Party Moment

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, Policy Tags: , , , ,

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Tenn., speaks speaks to reporters recently on Capitol Hill. Surprisingly, Paul voted to confirm Chuck Hagel for defense secretary. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll)

Scan the websites of the leading Tea Party political organizations and one will soon see among the group’s top issues is preventing the federal government from becoming too large and powerful. As a rule, Tea Party members are suspicious of too much power being centralized in any one place within government.

With that in mind, it was surprising late Tuesday afternoon when scanning the Senate roll call vote on former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s nomination to become U.S. defense secretary. Voting “yay” were four GOP senators. One was Hagel’s home-state Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska. That’s local politics at play, so it makes sense that Johanns would help send a Nebraskan to the E-Ring. Also voting for Hagel were two former Senate colleagues, Sens. Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Richard Shelby of Alabama. And, of course, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — wait, what?!

It turns out that was no typo. Paul, who earlier Tuesday had voted to keep alive debate on Hagel’s controversial nomination, had indeed voted to confirm him.

What gives, senator? More

Reporter’s Notebook: Mopping Up the Messy Chuck Hagel Vote

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, International, Israel, Policy Tags: , , , , ,

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., takes a call outside the Senate chamber on Thursday outside a GOP caucus meeting. (Photo by John T. Bennett | Defense News)

The scene for about five hours Thursday afternoon on the Senate side of the Capitol was nothing shy of controlled chaos. Senators, staffers and journalists darted about from gaggle to gaggle, meeting to meeting like frenzied bees around a nest.

Check DefenseNews.com for our coverage from a memorable Thursday — there’s more to come in the next few days as we wrestle with what it all means. But it’s the nature of the journalism business that some things don’t make it into published coverage. After the jump are some leftover nuggets from your correspondent’s notebook and recorder as we mop up the messy first round of the Hagel nomination. More

Will Dems’ Plan to Thwart the Not-a-Filibuster on Chuck Hagel Hold?

By John T. Bennett in Afghanistan, Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, International, Israel, Policy Tags: , ,

Former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., leaves the office of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., after the two met on Jan. 22. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Don’t call it a filibuster. Or, wait, maybe it actually is. Whatever one calls Senate GOP tactics, Senate Democratic leaders are again searching for five Republicans to vote with 55 Democrats Friday morning to end the not-a-filibuster-turned-filibuster and move to a final (simple majority) vote on Hagel’s nomination to become U.S. defense secretary. More

‘SNL’ Weighs in on Senate Republicans’ Treatment of Chuck Hagel

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, International, Israel, Policy Tags: , ,

Those wacky social commentators from “Saturday Night Live” went so far as to run through a skit about the now-infamous Senate Armed Services Committee’s hearing on Chuck Hagel’s nomination to become U.S. defense secretary.

The skit didn’t make the final cut, but it has surfaced on the Internet. We’ll let you judge the content. We’ll just give a big Intercepts hat tip to the SNL hair and make up folks for nailing the looks of their fictional Hagel and SASC Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich. (Video via Salon via Hulu.)

Sen. Rand Paul Embraces Iran Containment Option. And Ronald Reagan.

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, DoD, International, Israel, Operations, Policy Tags: , , , , , ,

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., highlighted the foreign policy approach of the late President Ronald Reagan (left) in suggesting Washington should not rule out a policy designed to contain a nuclear-armed Iran. (Staff graphic from wire photos)

Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, the tea party darling, will never be U.S. defense secretary. That is, if he was held to the standards established last week by his own party.

In a speech Feb. 6 at the Heritage Foundation in which Paul touted his vision for a true “conservative foreign policy,” Paul suggested a policy of containment toward a nuclear-armed Iran might not be such a bad idea. At worst, it should be one of several options considered by American officials. More

Sen. Inhofe Calls for U.S.-Led Regime Change in Egypt

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, International, Israel, Operations, Policy Tags: , , ,

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., questions former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., last Thursday about Hagel's nomination to be secretary of defense. Inhofe wants the U.S. to oust Egyptian leader Mohammed Morsi and install a pro-U.S. Egyptian leader. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

It came over seven hours into an eight-hour hearing. It was buried beneath Washington’s frenzy over defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel’s lackluster performance. And it was overshadowed by Republican senators’ relentless day-long attacks on Hagel over Iran, Israel and nuclear weapons.

But it happened. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., used his debut performance as Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member to call for regime change in Egypt. After Washington’s expensive — in terms of bot blood and treasure — and controversial attempts at regime change in Afghanistan and Iraq, Inhofe wants America to give it another go by installing a more pro-U.S. leader in Cairo. More

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