Senate Armed Services Committee approves Hagel 14-11, but will need 60 votes for confirmation
Chuck Hagel's nomination cleared the Senate Armed Services Committee in a
rare 14-11
party line vote on Tuesday night just before the President's State of the Union address. But Republicans are insisting that Hagel
will need 60 votes to be confirmed by the full Senate (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum)..
Several GOP senators told The
Cable Tuesday that they will not agree to a simple up or down vote on the Senate
floor this week, including Senate Armed Services Committee ranking Republican James Inhofe (R-OK), Senate Minority
Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), John McCain (R-AZ), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Inhofe's demand for 60 votes is related to his overall
objection to Hagel becoming defense secretary, which is based on Hagel's past
record on issues ranging from Iran, Israel, Hamas, and cuts to the defense
budget. Inhofe also wants Hagel to further disclose financial records related
to his past speeches.
"We're going to require a 60-vote threshold," Inhofe told The Cable.
Cornyn told The Cable,
"There is a 60-vote threshold for every nomination."
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) told The
Cable that he is confident Hagel can avoid a filibuster.
"If there's a filibuster, I think there will be more than 60
votes to stop a filibuster," Levin said.
Levin is adding up the 55 Democrats in the Senate, all of
whom are expected to support Hagel, with the two Republicans who support Hagel, Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Mike Johanns (R-NE), and the senators
who have pledged not to filibuster Hagel, such as McCain.
I don't understand McCain's objection to a filibuster, but Inhofe seems to have found a way to work around it.
Inhofe insisted that his demand for a 60-vote threshold is
not a "filibuster." Inhofe said he will object to unanimous consent for a
simple majority vote, which will prevent Reid from bringing the Hagel
nomination to the floor without first filing for cloture, which requires 60
votes to proceed to a final vote.
"It's not a filibuster. I don't want to use that word,"
Inhofe said.
It may be a distinction without a difference, but it's a
distinction that GOP senators like McCain are prepared to embrace. McCain has
repeatedly said he is opposed to filibustering Hagel but told The Cable Tuesday that he would vote
against a cloture vote this week if the White House doesn't provide the
information he has requested on the president's actions the night of the
Benghazi attack.
"We need to know what the president's conversations were,"
McCain said. "I would vote no [on cloture] on Thursday [unless the information
is provided]."
Graham is also opposed to a "filibuster" of Hagel, but told The Cable today he would place a "hold"
on the Hagel nomination after the committee vote.
"I think the president has stonewalled the Congress on
Benghazi. I think a lot of people are worried that we don't have all the
information on Chuck Hagel," said Graham. "I'm not inclined to filibuster. I'm
going to hold him and Reid is not going to not honor my hold and try to hold
the vote on Thursday."
Senate aides told The
Cable that the earliest Reid could call for a cloture vote would be
Wednesday, according to Senate rules. That would set up a final vote for
Friday, unless there were unanimous consent to move the vote up to Thursday. If
the vote doesn't happen by Friday, it would be delayed until after the
President's Day recess.
The Democrats' behavior is beneath contemptible. The Republican objections to Hagel are legitimate and deserve at least a fair hearing before the vote. Everyone should be tired of being railroaded by Obama.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Chuck Hagel, Harry Reid, Jim Inhofe, John McCain, United States Senate
'Hagel may be passed out of the committee, but it’s going to be a long, long time before he hits the floor'
Senate Armed Services Committee ranking minority member Jim Inhofe (R-Ok) has told National Review Online that he may not be able to prevent Chick Hagel's nomination from coming to a vote in the Armed Services Committee, but
he can and will prevent the nomination from reaching the Senate floor.
Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, tells National Review Online that he will “postpone” the nomination of Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s nominee for secretary of defense.
“I’ll do that for as long as it takes,” he says, firmly. “I’m going to make sure there is a 60-vote margin.”
“Hagel may be passed out of the committee, but it’s going to be a
long, long time before he hits the floor,” Inhofe says. “We’re going to
need as much time as possible, and there are going to be several of us
who will have holds.”
“Each day that goes by will make it more difficult for Democrats who
say they are pro-Israel to hold out,” Inhofe explains. “I want everyone
to be very clear about his past statements and his positions.”
...
Inhofe’s main concern remains Hagel’s position on Israel. “The
anti-Israel history of Chuck Hagel is real,” he says. “We can’t have
someone at the Pentagon who has made these kind of statements.”
I think we should all send letters of support and encouragement to Inhofe,
Labels: Chuck Hagel, Jim Inhofe
Levin wants to vote on Hagel on Tuesday, Republicans may walk out
The Obama administration is determined to push ahead with Chuck Hagel's nomination to be Secretary of Defense, and Senator Carl Levin (D-Mi) is planning to dutifully bring the nomination to a vote on Tuesday. But
Republicans may walk out (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum).
Meanwhile, two Senate Republican aides said that some GOP senators
were considering the possibility of walking out during such a vote.
Levin faces a conundrum: He has the ability to force a Hagel vote
through the committee on a party-line vote, since Democrats outnumber
Republicans. But doing so could damage the committee’s longtime
bipartisan spirit.
Last Thursday’s hearing with Panetta alarmed Levin, Democrats said.
Levin worries the aggressive, pointed questioning that Republicans
directed at Panetta over the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, could
signal some Republicans simply will not compromise on the issue of
Hagel’s nomination.
“Fed up is the right term for [Levin’s mood],” said a Democratic
source. “After the Benghazi hearing, it showed what we are dealing with
on the Republican side.”
...
Democratic aides were unhappy with the week’s turn of events. The
Senate Armed Services Committee has traditionally been collegial; it has
passed a defense authorization bill for over 50 consecutive years, as
defense advocates like to point out. But Republicans’ grilling of
Panetta on Thursday seemed to indicate that the bipartisan feeling has
diminished, and Republicans signaled again Sunday they were playing for
keeps.
"There are two options: If Hagel doesn't fully disclose all the
things in the letter [in which Republicans made requests for more
disclosure] ... either you will see a party line vote or Republicans
will stand up and leave the room in protest,” said a senior Republican
Senate aide. “Does Levin really want that to happen on his watch as
chairman? … It would really debilitate the committee.”
Why should the Senate Armed Services Committee be any different than anyplace else under the 'post-partisan' Obama administration? Here's betting that Levin calls the vote and all the Republicans except McCain walk out.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Chuck Hagel, Jim Inhofe, John McCain, Lindsey Graham
Inhofe threatens to filibuster Hagel nomination
The ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jim Inhofe (R-Ok), is
threatening to filibuster Chuck Hagel's nomination to be US Secretary of Defense. And there's no 'unless' involved (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum).
“I want a 60-vote margin and you don’t have to filibuster to get that,”
said Inhofe in an interview on Fox News. “I would threaten to cause a
60-vote margin. If it took a filibuster, I’d do it that way.”
Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said
that requiring 60 votes to confirm nominees was common and dismissed
suggestions that GOP colleagues would be reluctant to back him.
“They are predicating it on the assumption that we haven’t been doing
it. In the last nine years we’ve done it nine times; some of them have
been confirmed some have not. I don’t see anything wrong with 60-vote
margin with any of the two most significant jobs, appointments that the
president has,” said Inhofe.
The Senate has never filibustered a Cabinet nominee.
“I don’t trust this president to make the right appointment, I don’t think that Hagel is the right appointment,” Inhofe added.
Hagel has faced tough opposition from GOP lawmakers, who have raised
concerns about his views on Israel and Iran. But Inhofe is the first GOP
senator to publicly back a possible filibuster to prevent his
confirmation.
Hmmm.
Maybe there's hope after all.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Chuck Hagel, Jim Inhofe
Three real Republicans
In an earlier post, I asked who were the three Senators who voted not to confirm John FN Kerry as Secretary of State.
According to Pat, they were Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas, John Cornyn of Texas and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
Maybe I should start encouraging Americans to move to Texas....
Where was Marco Rubio?
Labels: Jim Inhofe, John Kerry, Ted Cruz
Congress pushing to stop F-16 transfer to Egypt
Republicans in both houses of Congress are pushing to stop the Obama administration from
gifting 20 F-16 fighter jets to the Morsy regime in Egypt.
On Thursday, the Senate voted 79-19 to kill an amendment that would have
ended US military assistance to Egypt.
Voting 79 for and 19 against, the Senate on Jan. 31 tabled (killed)
an attempt to end U.S. military assistance to Egypt in response to
instability there under a Muslim Brotherhood-led government. Offered to
HR 325 (above), the amendment sought, in part, to stop deliveries of
military vehicles such as Abrams tanks and aircraft such as the F-16
fighter jet. Backers said the U.S. should not be propping up a
government openly hostile to America, while opponents said the amendment
would upend U.S.-Egypt relations, harm Israel and worsen chaos in the
Middle East.
A yes vote was to kill the amendment.
The amendment was proposed by
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky).
But the Republicans have not given up. On Thursday, Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Ok), the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced a bill
conditionally suspending military sales to Egypt.
"For months, I have been calling on the President and his Administration to delay F-16 deliveries to Egypt," said Inhofe.
"I still am insisting the Administration suspend this transaction to
Egypt. Today there was an effort on the Senate floor to cut off all
sales of military equipment, including future F-16s, to Egypt.
While the intent is understood, the prohibition would cost taxpayers $2.2
billion and would rob the U.S. of leverage to put Egypt on the path
toward true democracy.
"For decades, the U.S. has had a good relationship with Egypt, training
their troops and working together to maintain peace and stability in the
region. Under Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi, this relationship
has come to a halt. We need to continue to support the Egyptian
military, which Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood have currently
distanced themselves from. Egypt’s military is our friend – Morsi is our
enemy.
"Today I have introduced a bill to delay any further deliveries of F-16s until
the President certifies to Congress that the Government of Egypt agrees
(1) to continue to uphold its commitments under the Camp David Peace
Accords, (2) to provide proper security at United States embassies and
consulates, (3) to bring stability to its nation by ending its
systematic exclusion and silencing of all official minority political
opposition, and (4) to take concrete steps to engage in dialogue with
such opposition parties and consider a coalition, power-sharing
government with such opposition parties. I believe that won’t happen
until Morsi is gone, and we’ve got to keep this leverage to make this
happen."
Earlier in the week, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) said that he would propose
similar legislation.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) has introduced legislation in the House that goes even further than Inhofe's bill, and last week sought co-sponsors via a
Dear Colleague letter.
On Thursday, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) circulated a Dear Colleague letter seeking co-sponsors for H.R.416, a
bill she introduced on January 25. The “Egypt Accountability and
Democracy Promotion Act” would “condition security assistance and
economic assistance to the Government of Egypt.” The letter expressed
concern over Egypt’s turmoil, President Morsi’s “continued civil rights
violations” and anti-Semetic comments, and that “aid could possibly be
used for nefarious intentions.” The act would require “certification
that Egypt is: Not controlled by a foreign terrorist organization,
Transitioning to a free-market democratic government, Adopting and
implementing legal reforms that protect the rights of all citizens,
Fully implementing the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, [and] Destroying the
smuggling network between Egypt and Gaza.”
Representative Ed Whitfield (R-Ky) announced on Thursday that he and several colleagues would send a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State John FN Kerry urging them
not to send the F-16's to Egypt.
“In the three years it has taken for the procurement of these aircraft,
Egypt has undergone significant changes in their government, including a
revolution and the installment of a new leader, Mohamed Morsi, a former
leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Given this substantial change in
circumstances, we strongly believe reconsideration of
previously-allocated military assistance to this nation is critical.
Recent
and previous statements by President Morsi indicate a clear hostility
towards non-Muslims in Egypt as well as towards the United States and
her allies—particularly Israel. Specifically, multiple recent reports of
President Morsi’s anti-Semitic and anti-American comments, and of
increased religious persecution and civil rights violations perpetrated
by his government, are cause for great concern. The instability of the
region is also evident from this weekend’s anti-government protests that
resulted in at least 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries. We are also
concerned with news of President Morsi granting emergency powers to the
Egyptian military to arrest Egyptian civilians and serve as a police
force in the country. Thus, the United States should be extremely
cautious in providing any financial support to Egypt—to say nothing of
military weaponry.”
Unfortunately, President Hussein Obama is likely to fight this at least as hard as he fought the Iran sanctions last term....
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Egypt, Egyptian anti-Semitism, F-16, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Jim Inhofe, John Kerry, Mohammed Morsy, Muslim Brotherhood, Rand Paul, US foreign aid
