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| Hagel Confirmation Fight Heats Up Amid Talk of a Filibuster | Hagel Confirmation Fight Heats Up Amid Talk of a Filibuster |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a vote to confirm former Senator Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, arguing that Democrats were trying to rush a choice that they needed more time to consider. | |
| In a 58-to-40 vote that broke down almost strictly along party lines, Mr. Hagel, a Republican, fell just short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate and clear the way for final consideration of his nomination. Republicans said they intended to allow a vote on their former colleague when the Senate returns from a break in 10 days, but Democrats said the Republican position amounted to a historic filibuster of the nominee for a post that is usually filled with bipartisan support. | |
| Democrats vowed to hold another vote when the Senate returns from recess. And all signs indicated that many Republicans who voted against Mr. Hagel on Thursday would not do so then. | |
| “Republicans have made an unfortunate choice to ratchet up the level of obstruction in Washington,” said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, who said that he planned to call Mr. Hagel and say: “I’m sorry for the president, I’m sorry for the country, and I’m sorry for you. But we’re not going to give up.” | |
| All day, a tense standoff played out in the Capitol as one party tried to force the other into a more politically undesirable position. Republicans, aware that Democrats would not relish calling a vote that could result in an embarrassing setback for the president, had hoped to press Mr. Reid to back down and reschedule after the Senate returns from its recess. | |
| Democrats, mindful that Republicans did not want to be blamed for making what would be seen as a historic affront to a sitting president, allowed knowing that it might fail and accused their colleagues of hitting a new low of obstructionism. | |
| At 10 a.m. on Thursday, after the Republican leadership signaled to Democrats that it intended to seek a further delay, Mr. Reid said he would wait no longer and set the vote for Friday morning. | |
| But just after 3 p.m. on Thursday, he came to the Senate floor to move that it be called instead at 4:15. That forced senators like John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, veterans of the Senate Armed Services Committee who have said that they find the act of filibustering a defense secretary distasteful, to cast a vote that had the same result as a filibuster, even if they refused to call it that. | |
| Mr. Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska and decorated Vietnam veteran, had earlier appeared to have at least the 60 votes required to break a Republican filibuster. But Mr. McCain and other Republicans who had said they might oppose Mr. Hagel but would not back a filibuster said they would not support ending debate until they received more detailed answers to questions about the administration’s response to the attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. | |
| Specifically, a group of Republican senators including Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham have asked the president whether he spoke with anyone in the Libyan government to request assistance during the attack. | |
| In an effort to address these questions and quiet the political uproar that has erupted over the Hagel vote, the White House on Thursday wrote to the senators informing them that Mr. Obama spoke to the Libyan president the evening after the attack, not the day of. | In an effort to address these questions and quiet the political uproar that has erupted over the Hagel vote, the White House on Thursday wrote to the senators informing them that Mr. Obama spoke to the Libyan president the evening after the attack, not the day of. |
| “We continue to urge the full Senate to act swiftly and confirm former Senator Hagel,” said the letter, which was from the White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler. | “We continue to urge the full Senate to act swiftly and confirm former Senator Hagel,” said the letter, which was from the White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler. |
| Mr. Graham demurred when asked if his concerns had been addressed. | Mr. Graham demurred when asked if his concerns had been addressed. |
| “Nobody wants to filibuster the nomination,” Mr. Graham told reporters. “But on our side there’s a consensus that we need more information, and we have a right to get it.” | “Nobody wants to filibuster the nomination,” Mr. Graham told reporters. “But on our side there’s a consensus that we need more information, and we have a right to get it.” |
| The White House strongly condemned Republican efforts to stall the vote, saying they were sending the wrong signal to the world. "We urge the Republicans in the Senate to drop their delay," Josh Earnest, a spokesman for the president, told reporters aboard Air Force One. “There is a clear majority in the United States Senate for Senator Hagel’s confirmation. These delaying tactics are unconscionable, and they should end right away.” | The White House strongly condemned Republican efforts to stall the vote, saying they were sending the wrong signal to the world. "We urge the Republicans in the Senate to drop their delay," Josh Earnest, a spokesman for the president, told reporters aboard Air Force One. “There is a clear majority in the United States Senate for Senator Hagel’s confirmation. These delaying tactics are unconscionable, and they should end right away.” |
| With Democrats controlling 55 of the Senate’s 100 seats and a few Republicans saying they will back Mr. Hagel for the post, he appears to have the support to win confirmation if he can surmount the Republican procedural tactics. The current Pentagon secretary, Leon E. Panetta, is preparing to vacate his post imminently. A vote on the Democratic effort to end debate is set for Friday morning. With some Republicans remaining silent, it is still possible that Mr. Hagel will get the 60 necessary to cut off debate. | |
| Mr. Reid took to the floor on Thursday to denounce Republicans for trying to use the confirmation process for political gain and accused them of undermining the nation’s national security. | |
| “This isn’t a high school getting ready for a football game,” Mr. Reid said. “We’re trying to confirm somebody to run the defenses of our country, the military of our country.” | “This isn’t a high school getting ready for a football game,” Mr. Reid said. “We’re trying to confirm somebody to run the defenses of our country, the military of our country.” |
| He added: “For the sake of our national security, we need to put aside this political theater, and that’s what it is. People are worried about primary elections. We know how the Tea Party goes after election when they aren’t conservative enough. Is that something they need to have on their résumé? I filibustered one of the president’s nominees? Is that what they want?” | He added: “For the sake of our national security, we need to put aside this political theater, and that’s what it is. People are worried about primary elections. We know how the Tea Party goes after election when they aren’t conservative enough. Is that something they need to have on their résumé? I filibustered one of the president’s nominees? Is that what they want?” |
| Mr. Graham is among the senators up for re-election next year and is a leading critic of Mr. Hagel. Mr. Graham and Mr. McCain are close allies. | Mr. Graham is among the senators up for re-election next year and is a leading critic of Mr. Hagel. Mr. Graham and Mr. McCain are close allies. |
| Mr. Reid also said that the Republican objective was to kill the nomination, not gain information from the administration. | Mr. Reid also said that the Republican objective was to kill the nomination, not gain information from the administration. |
| “Make no mistake: Republicans are trying to defeat Senator Hagel’s nomination by filibustering while submitting extraneous requests that will never be satisfied,” he said. | “Make no mistake: Republicans are trying to defeat Senator Hagel’s nomination by filibustering while submitting extraneous requests that will never be satisfied,” he said. |
| Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, spoke directly after Mr. Reid but made no mention of Mr. Hagel or the upcoming vote. | Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, spoke directly after Mr. Reid but made no mention of Mr. Hagel or the upcoming vote. |
| Senate Republicans find themselves in a politically weakened position this year, having lost two seats in the 2012 election. And while they may see some political purpose in opposing a cabinet nominee of Mr. Obama, a Democrat, they are also mindful of the potentially precarious historical precedent they could set. | Senate Republicans find themselves in a politically weakened position this year, having lost two seats in the 2012 election. And while they may see some political purpose in opposing a cabinet nominee of Mr. Obama, a Democrat, they are also mindful of the potentially precarious historical precedent they could set. |
| The Senate generally affords the president the courtesy of being able to choose his cabinet, though there have been exceptions. | The Senate generally affords the president the courtesy of being able to choose his cabinet, though there have been exceptions. |
| According to the Senate’s historian, Donald A. Ritchie, only 5 percent of presidential cabinet nominees have been blocked or rejected by the Senate. And only twice since 1917, when the Senate’s modern filibuster rules were created, has a cabinet-level nominee been subject to a supermajority vote of 60, as Republicans are forcing with Mr. Hagel. | According to the Senate’s historian, Donald A. Ritchie, only 5 percent of presidential cabinet nominees have been blocked or rejected by the Senate. And only twice since 1917, when the Senate’s modern filibuster rules were created, has a cabinet-level nominee been subject to a supermajority vote of 60, as Republicans are forcing with Mr. Hagel. |
| In the case of Mr. Hagel the opposition is especially striking because senators have traditionally afforded their former colleagues a high level of courtesy. Instead, when Mr. Hagel testified before the Armed Services Committee he was pummeled. | In the case of Mr. Hagel the opposition is especially striking because senators have traditionally afforded their former colleagues a high level of courtesy. Instead, when Mr. Hagel testified before the Armed Services Committee he was pummeled. |