March 17, 2014

HAGEL LIKELY TO FACE HOLDS AFTER ARMED SERVICES VOTE TODAY

By ExchangeMonitor
The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to vote today on the nomination of Chuck Hagel, but the Obama Administration’s Defense Secretary pick is expected to face a bumpy road to confirmation on the Senate floor. Republicans have voiced concerns about a wide variety of Hagel’s views, including his support of major reductions to the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, but concerns about his finances and speech history held up a vote in Armed Services Committee last week. Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) signaled that he would hold a vote today after the panel’s 2:30 p.m. executive meeting, giving members on the committee time to air their views about Hagel. While Hagel is certain to be cleared by the Democratic majority on the panel, there is no shortage of senators lining up to block his nomination on the Senate floor. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said over the weekend that he would put a hold on Hagel because he wants the Administration to provide more information about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the ranking member of the committee, suggested he might push for Hagel to have to meet a 60-vote threshold on the Senate Floor—enough to avoid a Republican filibuster. “Hagel may be passed out of the committee, but it’s going to be a long, long time before he hits the floor,” Inhofe told the National Review. “We’re going to need as much time as possible, and there are going to be several of us who will have holds.”

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NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)

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