Hagel Stepping Down as Defense Secretary

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel “is stepping down under pressure, the first cabinet-level casualty of the collapse of President Obama’s Democratic majority in the Senate and a beleaguered national security team that has struggled to stay ahead of an onslaught of global crises,” the New York Times reports.

“The president, who is expected to announce Mr. Hagel’s resignation in a Rose Garden appearance on Monday, made the decision to ask his defense secretary — the sole Republican on his national security team — to step down last Friday after a series of meetings over the past two weeks… The officials described Mr. Obama’s decision to remove Mr. Hagel, 68, as a recognition that the threat from the Islamic State would require a different kind of skills than those that Mr. Hagel was brought on to employ.”

One administration official “insisted that Mr. Hagel was not fired, saying that he initiated discussions about his future two weeks ago with the president, and that the two men mutually agreed that it was time for him to leave.”

However, senior defense officials confirmed to NBC News that Hagel was forced to resign. Said one: “He wasn’t up to the job.”

[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]Obama’s relationship with all three of his defense secretaries – Gates, Panetta and Hagel – has ended badly. [/speech_bubble]