The marathon Hagel confirmation hearing is finally over, nine long and occasionally excruciating hours after it began. It ended just like it started, with a barrage of harsh Republican criticism of Hagel’s positions on Israel and Iran and some fairly half-hearted Democratic attempts to defend him. Bottom line: Hagel didn’t say anything that will doom his own nomination, but also didn’t say anything that will guarantee he gets confirmed.
I covered the Gates and Panetta confirmation hearings, and the differences with the Hagel session were striking. Gates scored points with his mastery of small details and blunt candor – asked if the U.S. was winning in Iraq, he memorably said “no, sir” — and Panetta scored points with a confident tone and a disarming sense of humor. They both seemed like the smartest men in the room, and senators from both parties deferred to them accordingly. Read More 

4:00 — I understand how politically popular Israel is on Capitol Hill, but its still somewhat amazing just how completely questions about Israel have dominated the Hagel confirmation hearings. Utah Republican Mike Lee used his entire allotted time to press Hagel to explain past statements that appeared to draw a moral equivalency between Israeli military activity and Palestinian terrorism. Ted Cruz had recordings of some of Hagel’s comments on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” played in the hearing room to raise pretty much the same critique. Some Democrats have concerns about Hagel’s views on Israel as well, but its pretty much the only thing Republicans want to talk about. The question is whether GOP senators are using Israel solely to score political points against a nominee who seems virtually certain to be confirmed or whether – as seems highly, highly unlikely – they seriously believe they can use the Israel issue to kill Hagel’s nomination.

1:40 — Hagel’s now-infamous line about the “Jewish lobby” is continuing to cause him grief. Senator after senator has bashed him for using those two words, and Hagel has repeatedly tried to defuse the criticism by acknowledging that he misspoke and shouldn’t have used the phrase. Lindsey Graham, one of the best questioners on the panel, just used a different part of the quote to bash Hagel. Hagel’s full comment in 2006 was that “the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here… I have always argued against some of the dumb things they do because I don’t think it’s in the interest of Israel.” Graham asked Hagel to name a senator who had been intimidated by the pro-Israel lobby or a “dumb thing” that the Senate had done as a result. Hagel admitted that he couldn’t. Hagel had obviously been heavily coached about how to talk about the “Jewish lobby” part of the quote. He was clearly unprepared to fight off criticism about the rest of the comment.

12:05 — Here in Washington, sequestration – the mandatory budget cuts which are scheduled to go into effect March 1st — is a really big deal. There is little question that it will hammer an already-fragile economic recovery. Government contractors, particularly defense companies, are preemptively laying off workers, and the Pentagon and other government departments have told their civilian employees that they’ll have to take unpaid furloughs if it isn’t averted. Panetta and Dempsey have warned that the cuts would devastate the Pentagon and seriously threaten American national security. Obama and an array of Republican leaders say they want to find a way of getting rid of it. But no senator from either party has really asked Hagel about it. Read More 

11:35 — Brutal civil war in Syria. A partial al-Qaeda takeover of northern Mali. Terror groups operating with impunity in Somalia and Yemen. The growing possibility of an Israeli strike on Iraq. You get the idea. The Obama administration is facing incredibly complicated national security challenges around the globe. As defense secretary, Chuck Hagel would help shape how the U.S. should try to handle them. But Republican senators like Jeff Sessions aren’t really asking about any of those current challenges. Read More 

11:15 — Finally, some fireworks. McCain just hit Hagel pretty hard for his past opposition to the Iraq surge: “History has already about made a judgment about the surge, sir, and you’re on the wrong side of it.” Hagel shot back, calling the Iraq war “the most fundamental, bad, dangerous decision since Vietnam.” The exchange was obviously motivated by politics — and certainly made for some good TV — but I think its worth giving both men a bit of credit for having an unusually honest debate about Iraq, which has utterly faded from public consciousness. I lived in Iraq for several years, lost many American and Iraqi friends there, and admit to both personal and professional frustration about how completely the war and its aftermath have been forgotten. Iraq remains worth of discussion and debate, and I’m glad this hearing has brought it back up, even if only for a few minutes.

9:45 — Sen. James Inhofe, the new ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has already penned a Washington Post op-ed which surprised no one by announcing that he’d vote against Hagel. Still, his opening remarks were interesting because they outlined the talking points other GOP senators will use when they go after Hagel. The main ones: Hagel has been out of step with both parties when it comes to Iran and Israel, he’s tried to hide his true views for political expediency, and he’s simply too dovish to lead the Pentagon. The key Inhofe line: Hagel subscribes “to a worldview that is predicated on appeasing our allies while shunning our friends.” Ouch.

Good morning, everyone. A quick thanks to Josh and David for having me on to live blog what should be an unusually interesting hearing. I wanted to offer three general thoughts about key things to watch for before it gets rolling: Read More 

10:50 – James Inhofe’s questioning of Hagel was quite a bit softer than I’d expected. GOP senators had once promised to do everything they could to block the Hagel nomination and said they thought they might have the votes to do so. If Inhofe is any indication, they’ve pretty much thrown in the towel. Inhofe just made a point of praising Hagel as a good friend and said “if you are confirmed” in a tone which suggested that that was precisely what he expected to happen.

10:27 — Hagel just offered an extended defense of his record and beliefs, arguing that he’s exactly in lock-step with the Obama administration’s policies on Iran (all options are on the table, including a military one); the budget sequester (would be a disaster); don’t ask, don’t tell (fully supports its repeal and will look to expand the benefits available to gay troops); and the role of women in combat (wants to work with the Joint Chiefs to open as many jobs as possible). He’s taken somewhat different positions in the past, particularly when it comes to sanctioning Iran and cutting Pentagon “bloat.” Obama wouldn’t nominate someone who didn’t share his core beliefs, but you can tell GOP senators are eagerly waiting for a chance to accuse him of flip-flopping.