Washington – Chuck Hagel has been sworn in as Secretary of Defense following a bitter nomination fight on Capitol Hill.
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He took the oath of office at the Defense Department, which is facing deep budget cuts.
Hagel was expected to address civilian and uniformed employees at the department later in the day Wednesday.
The bitter, seven-week fight over his nomination ended Tuesday as a deeply divided Senate voted 58-41 to confirm him. Just four Republicans joined Democrats in backing the former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska and twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran.
“I am honored that President Obama and the Senate have entrusted me to serve our nation once again,” Hagel said in a statement. “I can think of no greater privilege than leading the brave, dedicated men and women of the Department of Defense as they perform vital missions around the globe.”
Hagel promised to work closely with Congress, but he faces lingering reservations about his ability to handle the responsibilities. Shortly after the vote, Sen. Lindsey Graham said he still has serious questions about Hagel and his qualifications.
“I hope, for the sake of our own national security, he exceeds expectations,” said the South Carolina Republican.
The top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, said Hagel’s record on Israel, Iran, defense spending and nuclear weapons “demonstrate, in my view, a profound and troubling lack of judgment on many of the critical issues he will now be confronted with as secretary of defense.”
But Inhofe promised to work with Hagel to avoid the $46 billion in automatic, across-the-board budget cuts that hit the Pentagon on Friday.
Obama alluded to the need for cooperation in his statement welcoming the vote.
The president said he was grateful to Hagel “for reminding us that when it comes to our national defense, we are not Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans, and our greatest responsibility is the security of the American people.”
Hagel joins Obama’s retooled national security team, including Secretary of State John Kerry and CIA Director-designate John Brennan, at a time of uncertainty for a military emerging from two wars and fighting worldwide terrorism with smaller, deficit-driven budgets.
Among his daunting challenges are dealing with the budget cuts and deciding on troop levels in Afghanistan as the United States winds down its combat presence. He also will have to work with lawmakers who spent weeks vilifying him.
Republicans insisted that Hagel was battered and bloodied after their repeated attacks during the protracted political fight.
“He will take office with the weakest support of any defense secretary in modern history, which will make him less effective on his job,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate GOP’s No. 2 Republican.
Not so, said Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, who pointed out that Hagel now has the title and the fight is history.
“All have to work together for the interest of the country,” said Reed, D-R.I.
The vote ended one of the bitterest fights over a Cabinet choice and former senator since 1989, when the Democratic-led Senate defeated newly elected President George H.W. Bush’s nomination of Republican John Tower to be defense secretary. This time, Republicans waged an unprecedented filibuster of a president’s Pentagon pick and Hagel only secured the job after Republicans dropped their delay.
A 71-27 vote to end the filibuster cleared the way for Hagel’s confirmation.
In the course of the rancorous nomination fight, Republicans, led by Inhofe and freshman Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, insinuated that Hagel has a cozy relationship with Iran and received payments for speeches from extreme or radical groups. Those comments drew rebukes from Democrats and some Republicans.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, dismissed the “unfair innuendoes” against Hagel and called him an “outstanding American patriot” whose background as an enlisted soldier would send a positive message to the nation’s servicemen and women.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., questioned how the confirmation process devolved into a character assassination in which Hagel was accused of “having secret ties with our enemies.”
“I sincerely hope that the practice of challenging nominations with innuendo and inference, rather than facts and figures, was an aberration and not a roadmap,” she said in a statement after the vote.
Mazel Tov, Chuck!
May hashem guide you in the right direction to protect us all
It is a very sad commentary to know how low our members of Congress/Senate have sunk to approve men to positions of Authority who are not only mediocre, and unqualified to serve, but incompetent as well.
With all these new appointments, we only increase the free fall of our once GREAT COUNTRY, into a lessor realm of a THIRD WORLD meaningless Country. Completely dependent on loans, and having to cede ourselves to those nations.
The names of 14 members of the Senate who voted against him but allowed the vote should be noted as a bunch of hypocrites.
Bitter fight? More like pathetic cave-in.
We warned the liberals that a vote for Obama was a vote for more taxes. They voted for Obama now their paychecks are smaller. We warned the liberals that a vote for Hagel was a vote against Israel and a vote against American leadership. Now let’s see what he does.