CNN reports there “are now at least five Republican senators who
would oppose a filibuster of former Sen. Chuck Hagel to be secretary of
defense, all but ensuring the embattled nominee will be confirmed in the
coming days.”
Daniel Larison: “We won’t know what the final confirmation vote tally will be, but by
my count there are at least 20 Republicans that will definitely vote
against Hagel and there are only two definite Republican yeas. Even if
all of the remaining Republicans voted to confirm, that would still mean
that nearly half of the Senators from Hagel’s own party are voting the
other way. It isn’t surprising when the president’s opposition votes in
large numbers against a nominee from the president’s party, but in this
case Republicans are going out of their way to repudiate one of their
own mostly because he is not enough of a jingoist and saber-rattler.
Hagel will almost certainly be confirmed, but along the way Senate
Republicans are confirming everyone else’s worst fears about their
foreign policy views.”
