Gates, who was appointed by George W. Bush and kept on during President Obama's first term, continued that he wouldn't have "approved sending an aircraft, a single aircraft, over Benghazi under those circumstances."

"It's sort of a cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces," Gates added. "The one thing that our forces are noted for is planning and preparation before we send people in harm's way, and there just wasn't time to do that."

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The vote Tuesday was 58-41, with four Republicans joining Democrats in backing President Barack Obama's nominee.

The vote ended a contentious fight over the president's choice for his second-term national security team.

Republicans opposed the former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska, casting him as out of the mainstream and overly critical of Israel. But Democrats stood together for Hagel, a twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran.

Hagel will succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who is stepping down after four years as CIA director and Pentagon chief.

The vote came just hours after Republicans dropped their delay and allowed the nomination to move forward. The Senate vote to end the filibuster was 71-27.

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Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham were some of Hagel's most outspoken critics, but ultimately relented and voted for cloture to break their colleagues' obstruction. The Senate had tried to get the 60 votes needed for cloture two weeks ago, but fell short when only a three Republicans joined Democrats.

Today, however, Republicans apparently realized they were on the losing side of the battle and 18 of them joined the Democrats, giving the majority more than enough votes to end debate and proceed to final passage. An unprecedented amount of money had been spent trying to sink Hagel's nomination.

Shortly after the vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the chamber would reconvene at 4:30 this afternoon to vote on final passage, which only requires a simple majority of 51 votes. Many of the Republicans who voted for cloture may not vote for final passage.

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"I think it will happen, barring some additional revelation concerning his comments about Israel and all those other unfortunate things he's said in the past," McCain said.

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"It would be unprecedented for a Secretary of Defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position," the senators wrote. "Over the last half-century, no Secretary of Defense has been confirmed and taken office with more than three Senators voting against him. Further, in the history of this position, none has ever been confirmed with more than 11 opposing votes."

John McCain, R-Ariz., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who have both been outspoken against Hagel's nomination, were not among the senators to sign the letter.

And Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., told the Decatur Daily that he'll vote to confirm Hagel: “He’s probably as good as we’re going to get." Shelby is the third Republican to say he'll back Hagel, joining Sens. Thad Cochran, Miss., and Mike Johanns, Neb.

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They would lose one day of work per week, or 20 percent of their pay, for up to 22 weeks, probably starting in late April.

To dispel the notion that this is mainly a problem for the nation's capital, the Pentagon's budget chief, Robert Hale, told reporters that the economic impact would be felt nationwide. The biggest potential losses, in term of total civilian payroll dollars, would be in Virginia, California, Maryland, Texas and Georgia, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.

Hale said the unpaid leaves for civilian workers would begin in late April and would save $4 billion to $5 billion if extended through the end of the budget year, Sept. 30. That is only a fraction of the $46 billion the Pentagon would have to cut this budget year unless a deficit-reduction deal is reached.

Panetta also said the across-the-board spending reductions would "put us on a path toward a hollow force," meaning a military incapable of fulfilling all of its missions.

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That's unless more information damaging to the nominee - and the Obama administration - surfaces in the coming week.

Critics maintain the decorated Vietnam combat veteran and former senator is unqualified to lead the U.S. military. A top White House official expressed "grave concern" over the delayed confirmation vote, adding that there was nothing to worry about in any disclosures that may yet come.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, a key Republican on defense matters, said Sunday that he doesn't believe Hagel, a one-time colleague and friend, is qualified. "But I don't believe that we should hold up his nomination any further, because I think it's (been) a reasonable amount of time to have questions answered."

McCain and other Republicans angered President Barack Obama by delaying a vote on Hagel last week and preventing him from rounding out his second-term national security team, which includes Hagel and John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser who is awaiting confirmation to become CIA director. Former Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry assumed his post as secretary of state at the beginning of February.

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Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Republicans are filibustering Hagel's confirmation and that such a move is unprecedented. "Not a single nominee for secretary of defense ever in the history of our country has been filibustered," the Nevada Democrat said. "Never, ever."

A demand by Republican senators that the White House give them more information about what Obama was doing on the night of the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, has the effect of a filibuster.

Reid said Republicans notified him Wednesday night they would withhold the votes needed to advance Hagel's nomination. Reid said he considered that a "full-scale filibuster" because the Republican strategy would prevent Hagel's nomination from getting the required 60 votes.

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On Tuesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to approve Hagel's nomination by a party-line vote. But now Republicans like John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are threatening to block Hagel's confirmation, not to mention that of John Brennan, until the White House responds to their demands for more information.

“This is the first time in the history of our country that a presidential nominee for secretary of defense has been filibustered,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the senate floor.  “What a shame. But that’s the way it is.”

“There’s nothing unusual about this,” said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. “There’s not a filibuster."

From Politico:

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"This is a controversial nominee. I think they are jamming the vote,” Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said, the National Journal reports. “Our caucus believes that having cloture on Hagel this soon with this many unanswered questions and the administration stonewalling is inappropriate by Harry Reid.”

Graham had attempted to block the vote on Hagel until more questions could be answered, but Senate Majority Leader Reid, D-Nev., said he wouldn't honor the hold. So Republicans are considering a filibuster to force the nomination to get a cloture vote, meaning Hagel would have to clear 60 votes before he can get an up-or-down vote in the Senate. It would only take one senator to make this happen.

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“I do not believe that we should filibuster,” he told Politico. “To vote against is entirely the judgment of each individual senator, but a filibuster I think would be inappropriate.” McCain added that he would vote for a cloture if the rest of his party initiated a filibuster.

Other Republicans also seemed wary of using the filibuster against Hagel, including Richard Burr, N.C., Susan Collins, Maine, Sen. Roy Blunt, Mo., Pat Roberts, R-Kan. and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

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White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Friday that President Barack Obama thinks Hagel will be an excellent Pentagon chief.

He dismissed criticism of Hagel's less-than-stellar performance over nearly eight hours of testimony under withering attacks from fellow Republicans.

Democrats hold the majority in the Senate and no Democrats has expressed opposition to Hagel.

Republican foes grew on Friday as Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said he would oppose the nomination. Blunt is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Mathematically, Hagel has the edge as he looks to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as the nation's 24th Pentagon chief. Democrats hold a 14-12 advantage on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said the panel could vote as early as next Thursday, contingent on Hagel's prompt response on some lingering questions.

Levin expressed optimism about Hagel's prospects and praised his performance in nearly eight hours of testimony Thursday.

"I think his answers were honest and forthright and he did very well," Levin told reporters. "I hope that there will be some, who maybe were skeptical but who are undecided before this hearing, will maybe now look at him in a more favorable light. But I think there are a whole lot of folks who basically decided before the hearing that they were going to vote against him."

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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."

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The comments in question were from 2006, in an interview with Middle East analyst Aaron David Miller. "The political reality is that you intimidate, not you — that the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here," Hagel said. "Again, I have always argued against some of the dumb things they do because I don’t think it’s in the interest of Israel. I just don’t think it’s smart for Israel."

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McCain referred to comments Hagel made in 2007, when Hagel said that the surge would amount to the "most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam":

McCain: "This committee deserves your judgment as to whether you were right or wrong about the surge."

Hagel: "I'll explain why I made those comments."

McCain: "I want to know if you were right or wrong. That's a direct question. I expect a direct answer."

Hagel: "The surge assisted in the objective, but if we review the record a little bit."

McCain: "Will you please answer the question. Were you correct or incorrect when you said that the surge would be the 'most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam.' Were you correct or incorrect, yes or no?"

Hagel: "I'm not going to give you a yes or no, I think it's far more complicated than that."

Hagel ended by noting that his comments were about "not just the surge, but about the overall war of choice going into Iraq."

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Speaking to about 150 members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Panetta said steps can be taken to protect kids in school without undermining the Second Amendment.

"Who the hell needs armor-piercing bullets except you guys in battle?" Panetta told the soldiers at the U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza in northern Italy. "For the life of me, I don't know why the hell people have to have assault weapons."

Panetta, who said he believes in the Second Amendment and has been a longtime duck hunter, was asked about the issue by a soldier who wanted to know what steps the Obama administration was going to take to deal with attacks in schools that "don't have to do with tearing apart our Second Amendment."

Known for his often blunt and colorful language, Panetta added that things can be done to protect children "so that the nuts that are out there won't use these kinds of weapons to wipe them out."

President Barack Obama's sweeping gun control package includes calls for a ban on assault weapons and a universal requirement for background checks on gun purchases.

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New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a statement Tuesday that he met with Hagel for 90 minutes on Monday and the Republican reassured him on issues ranging from Israel to gay rights.

Schumer said he found Hagel's responses to be genuine and not stated to quiet his critics. The Democrat urged his Senate colleagues who also had concerns about Hagel's nomination to support him.

The meeting occurred in the White House where Schumer also met with Obama, who tapped Hagel to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

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This, no doubt, is a good way to understand what is almost certainly fueling much of the opposition to the nomination of former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense.

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Hagel, even before being nominated, has faced tough criticism from congressional Republicans who say the former GOP senator is anti-Israel and soft on Iran. And Brennan, a 25-year CIA veteran, withdrew from consideration for the spy agency's top job in 2008 amid questions about his connection to harsh interrogation techniques used during the George W. Bush administration.

Administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Obama will announce both nominations at a White House event Monday afternoon. Along with secretary of state nominee Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Hagel and Brennan would play key roles implementing and shaping Obama's national security priorities in a second term. All three men must be confirmed by the Senate.

In nominating Hagel, Obama signaled he is willing to take on a tough confirmation fight. Once Hagel emerged as Obama's likely nominee, GOP lawmakers began sharply questioning his commitment to Israel and his willingness to take a hard line with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

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