President Barack
Obama announced
Monday that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will step down from his position as soon as the Senate
confirms a successor.
Hagel,
who has served as Defense secretary since February 2013, was forced out by
President Barack Obama, CNN confirmed from several sources.
During
his remarks from the White House, however, Obama praised Hagel as an
"exemplary" Defense secretary, calling him critical to a number of
national security accomplishments during his tenure, and characterized Hagel's
resignation as his own choice.
"If
there's one thing I know about Chuck it is that he does not make this or any
decision lightly," Obama said from the State Dining Room. "This decision does not
come easily to him." Continue..
However,
Arizona Sen. John McCain, the expected incoming chairman of the Armed Services
Committee, said on local Arizona radio station KFYI 550's "The Mike
Broomhead Show" that he spoke with Hagel last week and the Defense
secretary was "frustrated."
"They're
gonna say well it was time for a change and all that...but I can tell you he
was in my office last week, he was very frustrated," McCain said, with a
lack of strategy to combat ISIS, help the Ukranians and what McCain called
"a lack of U.S. influence...unknown in history."
McCain
said, despite the fact "White House people are leaking, 'Well, he wasn't
up to the job,' believe me, he was up to the job" — and that the real
issue was the White House itself.
"It
was the job that he was given where he really was never really brought into
that real tight circle inside the White House that makes all the
decisions," he said.
Throughout
the day Monday, administration officials continued to insist the decision for
Hagel to step down was mutual and had nothing to do with his feelings on the
administration's defense strategy.
Pentagon
Press Secretary John Kirby told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that "the
secretary's decision to resign has nothing to do with Iraq policy or
strategy."
"He's
very much a strong advocate for the policy and the strategy that we're
executing there," he said.
He added that
Hagel's resignation doesn't hint at any "major changes" to the
nation's strategy in Iraq, including the president's decision not to put boots
on the ground there in a combat role.
Behind
the scenes, administration officials told CNN there were a series of
discussions over the past several weeks with the President, initiated by Hagel.
The talks covered a "broader discussion of national security for the next
two years," a defense official said.
The two came to realize that
"a different focus was needed and a change is in order," the official
added. "It is wrong to conclude that this was a protest by Hagel or it was
over policy differences."
The New York Times first
reported Monday
morning that Obama asked Hagel to step down last Friday, seeking to reassure
critics of the President's foreign policy with the move.
The move,
White House officials told the Times, was meant to acknowledge that the new
national security threats facing the nation — most notably the rise of the
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — call for a different kind of leadership in
the Defense Department.
"The
next couple of years will demand a different kind of focus," an
administration official told the paper.
Obama did
not announce a successor Monday. According to a White House aide, the list to
replace Hagel includes former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle
Flournoy and former Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.
Rhode
Island Sen. Jack Reed, a former paratrooper, was initially in the mix, but his
spokesman said in a statement that he's not interested in the job.
"Senator
Reed loves his job and wants to continue serving the people of Rhode Island in
the United States Senate. He has made it very clear that he does not wish to be
considered for Secretary of Defense or any other cabinet position,"
spokesman Chip Unruh said.
But it's
highly unlikely that the confirmation process for Hagel's replacement will
occur before next year when the Republican-led Senate convenes, Senate
leadership aides from both parties tell CNN.
A GOP
aide said it would be "logistically impossible" to complete it in the
two weeks senators expect to be in session in December before leaving for the
holidays.
A
Democratic aide said that while Democrats are "open" to considering
the nomination when they return to session next week, doing so would require
consent from Republicans.
"It's
not impossible for this year but would require a nominee before we come back
Monday and complete cooperation from Republican leadership, committee members
and rank and file," the Democratic aide said.
The move,
White House officials told the Times, was meant to acknowledge that the new
national security threats facing the nation — most notably the rise of the
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — call for a different kind of leadership in
the Defense Department.
"The
next couple of years will demand a different kind of focus," an
administration official told the paper.
At the
White House press conference, Hagel thanked the President and his colleagues,
pledged to work "just as hard as I have over the last couple years"
until his successor is confirmed. And he evaluated his tenure at the Pentagon
as a success.
"I
believe we have set not only this department, the department of Defense, but
the nation on a stronger course towards security, stability and prosperity. If
I didn't believe that I would not have done this job," he said.
A critic
of the Iraq war, Hagel was brought on to oversee withdrawal from Afghanistan
and a smaller Pentagon budget than ever before.
Hagel, a
former senator of Nebraska, was the last Republican still serving in Obama's
Cabinet and was a Vietnam combat veteran.
Hagel's
tenure was rocky before it even began.
During
his confirmation hearings, Hagel drew sharp criticism from pro-Israel
Republicans concerned with his opposition to aggressive sanctions against Iran
and for his criticism of the Defense Department as "bloated." His
confirmation was filibustered before he ultimately won approval.
And his
two years at the Pentagon have been marred by gaffes that occasionally undercut
the President and an inability to sell the administration's national security
policy.
He at one
point called ISIS an "imminent threat to every interest we have,"
contradicting the President's comments just months before that the group was
simply "junior varsity."
The
administration has taken persistent criticism over the past few months as a
series of national security crises roiled the nation, and the President's
response was seen by many as flat-footed and inconsistent.
Hagel's
departure has been rumored to be coming for weeks, and as recently as last week
he dodged questions about his continued tenure at the Pentagon.
"First
of all, I serve at the pleasure of the President," Hagel told PBS, asked
whether he'd continue in the position. "I'm immensely grateful for the
opportunity I've had the last two years to work every day for the country and
for the men and women who serve this country. I don't get up in the morning and
worry about my job. It's not unusual by the way, to change teams at different
times."
Pressed
on whether he felt he still had Obama's confidence, Hagel said, "Well, I
don't think I would be here if I didn't. But you'd have to ask him that. I mean
I see him all the time."
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