SALON

Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:37 PM UTC

Graham, Rubio will likely vote against Hagel

"It's not looking good," Graham said of Thursday's hearings

By

Topics: Ted Cruz, Chuck Hagel, Defense Secretary, Al Jazeera, Senate Armed Services Committee,

Graham, Rubio will likely vote against Hagel(Credit: AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

After grilling Chuck Hagel on his comments about the “Jewish lobby,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he will oppose Hagel’s nomination to Defense Secretary. ”It’s not looking good,” Graham told Foreign Policy. “I don’t think he’s been consistent over time on major issues.”

Graham was just one of the Republican votes that Hagel lost during the hearing, which was often comabtive when it came time for Republicans to ask questions.”I don’t think he’s going to be able the questions I’m going to have. I saw the hearing and I won’t be able to support him,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is not on the committee, but said he reviewed what went on in the hearings.

“I have serious reservations about it,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D,, also told Foreign Policy. “I know Chuck. He’s a good guy. I like him personally. But I have serious reservations about him becoming the secretary of defense.”

The broad consensus is that Hagel stumbled a few times during the hearings (Sen. Claire McCaskill, R-Mo., even said on MSNBC that she didn’t think he did so well: ”I think that Chuck Hagel is much more comfortable asking qusetions than answering them”). But, as Greg Sargent reports, it may not matter:

Spending a few hours on the defensive isn’t likely to sink his nomination — unless it was already doomed.

The first part of confirmation has always been to ensure that all 55 Democrats supported Hagel. That was essentially achieved during Hagel’s meeting with Democratic senators, if not earlier. It’s possible one or two Democrats might be tough votes, but unlikely he’ll lose any of them.

Now, you might think that 55 votes in a 100-vote chamber would be sufficient, but only if you haven’t been paying attention since January 2009. Whether or not Republicans ultimately insist on a cloture vote, they almost certainly will insist on 60 votes to confirm (that is, if Hagel has the votes, they might not allow the nomination to go straight to a final vote). So the second part has always been whether the former Republican senator can pick up five Senate Republicans. Prior to his confirmation hearing today, he had already scored one of those, Thad Cochran. That’s a good start; Cochran, a mainstream conservative, doesn’t seem to be a likely outlier. But he’ll need four more.

Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 19 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Study: Young people are more liberal than they think they are.
63 points64 points | 22 comments
vote
Virginia Man Pleads Guilty To Forging Newt Gingrich Primary Signatures: Adam Ward pleaded guilty to 36 counts of voter fraud and perjury
72 points73 points | 5 comments
vote
How cash secretly rules surveillance policy: Today's congressional hearing was a joke. The reason: Firms like Booz Allen bankroll and own Congress. Here's how
43 points44 points | 6 comments
vote
Here Come the Edward Snowden Truthers
47 points48 points | 15 comments
vote
The internal war between House Oversight Committee chair Darrell Issa and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings blew up again Tuesday, when Cummings released the full transcript of a five-hour interview with the conservative Republican IRS screening manager.
45 points46 points | 6 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations