Only hours after a 12-day filibuster was broken, the U.S. Senate has confirmed Chuck Hagel as the nation’s next Secretary of Defense. The final vote was 57 - 41, with only four Republicans crossing party lines to vote for Hagel’s confirmation.
(Source: reuters.com)
The U.S. Senate is expected to confirm Hagel’s nomination at 4:30pm EST on Tuesday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid criticized Senate Republicans for a 12-day filibuster which delayed the confirmation, saying it earned them “nothing” and sent “a terrible signal to our allies around the world.” source
We do not have, at 12 o’clock today, a Secretary of Defense.Harry Reid, revealing today that Senate Republicans have rounded up the 41 votes necessary to block the nomination of Chuck Hagel to the Defense Department. Today is outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s last day on the job; if Republicans make good on their threats during Hagel’s confirmation vote tomorrow—and this is certainly a big “if”—it will be the first time a nominee for Secretary of Defense has been filibustered, and the country will be left without a Defense Secretary. A couple of Republican senators have threatened to block Hagel’s nomination unless the Obama Administration releases more information about the attack last year on the American consulate in Benghazi, an incident with which Hagel was wholly uninvolved. A Hagel spokesman said today that despite the threats of his former colleagues, the Nebraska Republican is not withdrawing his nomination. source
Today in the U.S. losing patience (part two): While Hillary Clinton was toughening up her stance against Bashar al-Assad, Leon Panetta was getting similarly tough on Pakistan, which he claims is ”allowing terrorists to use their country as a safety net in order to conduct their attacks on our forces.” Panetta has been tough on Pakistan in the past, particularly their inaction regarding fighting terrorism, despite the U.S. giving the country billions of dollars in aid. Pakistan’s relationship with the U.S. was recently strained when they jailed a doctor who helped American forces find Osama bin Laden. (Above: Panetta with Afghan Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak, via the Secretary of Defense’s Flickr page)
We jest. Today, Starbucks announced that Gates joined the company’s board, and will serve on its nominating and corporate governance committee. Gates was appointed Secretary of Defense by George W. Bush in 2006, and retired in 2011 after just under three years with the Obama Administration. Prior to joining the Starbucks board, Gates was acting as chancellor for the College of William & Mary, his alma mater. (SFB illustration) source
US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is safe after a stolen pickup truck exploded near the runway where his plane was scheduled to land during a trip to Afghanistan. Although all of the pieces of the story are still being put together, no evidence of explosive material was found in/near the truck, and the driver may have simply lost control of the vehicle. Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that truck’s driver is currently being treated for burn injuries, and that no one else was injured in the incident. (Photo via the Office of the Secretary of Defense) source
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