WASHINGTON (CNN) — If he becomes defense secretary, former Sen. Chuck Hagel will bring Vietnam battlefield experience, criticism of U.S. policy in Afghanistan and tensions with his own Republican Party to the Pentagon.
President Barack Obama’s announcement of Hagel’s nomination to the defense post will occur around 1 p.m. Monday, along with the nomination of counterterrorism chief John Brennan to be the CIA director, a senior administration official said.
Hagel honed a reputation on Capitol Hill as someone with an independent streak who was willing to take controversial positions and break rank with his Republican colleagues. And several leading Republican lawmakers are already voicing staunch opposition to his nomination.
It’s unclear what his priorities would be as defense secretary, but in the past he’s taken controversial positions on several topics that could be on his plate.
If the Senate confirms his nomination, a man who once said his Vietnam experience made him determined to do everything in his power to prevent war stands to become Obama’s main military policy adviser.
As a lawmaker, Hagel voiced opposition to troop surges in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Critics have decried him as too dovish, while supporters have praised him for moderate views on many defense issues.
In his 2006 biography, Hagel is quoted saying he isn’t a pacifist.
“I’m a hard-edged realist. I understand the world as it is,” he said. “But war is a terrible thing. There’s no glory, only suffering.”
As senator, Hagel voted against sanctions on Iran, saying he favored direct negotiations, viewpoints not at odds with but to the left of President Obama. Hagel also supported negotiations with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, and he said a lot of things criticized as insufficiently supportive of Israel, a longtime and strong U.S. ally.
Recently, many Republicans have struck upon comments Hagel made in a 2007 interview that some perceived as anti-Jewish, when Hagel said the “Jewish lobby intimidated lawmakers.”
Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, a longtime friend of Hagel’s, disputed that perception, saying the former senator is “definitely a friend of Israel.”
“He is independent, has wonderful, fresh ideas to try to re-engage the discussion about the Middle East,” Azriel said.
Hagel “has long severed his ties with the Republican Party,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, called the Hagel nomination an “in-your-face” choice by Obama and didn’t rule out staging a filibuster to prevent a vote on Hagel’s nomination.
“Hagel, if confirmed to be secretary of defense, would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense towards the state of Israel in our nation’s history,” he said.
Hagel supported the Pentagon’s old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy” governing gays in the military. He has faced opposition from gay-rights groups for a 1998 comment when he questioned whether a nominee for an ambassadorship was suitable because he was “openly, aggressively gay.” He apologized for that remark in December, the only public statement he’s made since his name came to light as one of those in the running for the post.
Last month the Log Cabin Republicans took out a full-page ad in The New York Times, criticizing Hagel and calling him “wrong on gay rights, wrong on Iran, wrong on Israel.”
As criticism of Hagel has mounted in recent weeks, a group of former members of Congress and foreign policy professionals have come to his defense.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said Sunday that Hagel would receive a “thorough vetting” just like any other presidential nominee.
“Whoever is nominated for secretary of defense is going to have to have a full understanding of our close relationship with our Israeli allies, the Iranian threat, and the importance of having a robust military,” McConnell said on ABC’s “This Week.” “So whoever that is I think will be given a thorough vetting. And if Sen. Hagel is nominated, he’ll be subjected to the same kinds of review of his credentials as anyone else.”
