White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Monday said that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was not forced out of his position, despite reports that the Obama administration felt that Hagel “wasn’t up to the job.”
Earnest told reporters that Hagel and President Obama “arrived together” at the decision that Hagel would step down.
The press secretary wouldn’t say that Hagel was asked to leave, but that Hagel and Obama agreed that “another secretary might be better suited to meet” challenges like fighting the Islamic State.
Earnest also addressed Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) comment that Hagel was “very frustrated” with Obama. Earnest called McCain “less than impartial.”
The press secretary said that the White House has started considering replacements for Hagel, but he did not have a timeline for nominating a new secretary.
Geez, remember those days when you had to wait for someone’s memoirs to be published before you could learn about the back-room conversations that led to an important decision? Now it takes only as long as the writing of 140 characters and the pushing of SEND. Frankly, when it’s that easy to put information out into the world, it becomes a little harder to trust it.
Idiots. Who do they think they’re going to get through the confirmation process with the Republickens in the majority.
Crash McCain? Miss Lindsey? I know, how about Michelle Bachman? She was on the House Intelligence committee, and I hear she’ll have some time on her hands soon.
Yeah, that will work out just great. Hopefully the position will just remain vacant for the next two years.
No filibusters for presidential nominees. I’m guessing Obama will move sooner rather than later; surely he has someone in mind already. But we’ll see if it works out that Ted Cruz and Co. refuse to allow a nominee for Sec Def onto the floor for a vote.
That would be another brilliant trap Obama sets for the GOP: show how ridiculous they are, warmongers who refuse to fund fully and name secretaries of defense.
If there is a wink link in Obamas presidency, it’s been his foreign policy. Many parts of the rest of the world have gone from bad to much worse since he’s been in office. On the one hand, i commend him for his hands off approach to a number of matters that do not immediately affect US interests.On the other hand, Syria, and ISIS/ISIL have been seriously underplayed. His public demeanor has been to ignore those growing crises, and each of them has gotten much worse, in part because of US inaction. Obama has performed wonderfuilly in domestic issues. Foreign policy issues, not so much. He’s surrounded himself with people who give him very poor guidance. I never was a fan of Chuck Hagel, but i gave him credit for trying to reach across the isle to appease those who would be against anything he did or said regardless of the issue. However, now, in hindsight, i have serious doubts on Obama’s ability to handle foreign affairs. His first obligation in that regard is to appoint the right people. Several of his appointments have not been the right people. The State of the World proves that point. I’m not a fan of John Kerry, either. I don’t see the US’s relations with any nations getting any better.
Before anyone scolds me for having this opinion, i also believe that any Republican in charge of US foreign policy would have done much worse. We’d likely be in several more wars if that were the case.
Michelle Flournoy. She’s the defense contractors darling and she was on Obama’s short list before.