Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Thursday that the White House’s response to his and other Republican senators’ questions on the September attack in Benghazi, Libya was satisfactory. The senior Arizona senator said he is now ready to find a way to end the filibuster that is holding up the confirmation vote for defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, CNN reported.
“I think it was an adequate response, yes,” McCain said. “We are working on and having negotiations now trying to smooth this thing out and get it done.”
McCain said he is now trying to get answers to questions posed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) regarding Hagel’s sources of income. If those inquiries are answered, McCain said, there won’t be a need to end the filibuster with a vote. Instead, the Senate could move to vote a straight up-or-down vote on Hagel, which would require only a simple majority of 51 votes to be confirmed.
In response to questions raised by McCain and other GOP senators, White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler said in a letter released Thursday that President Barack Obama placed a phone call to Libyan President Magariaf on the day after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that left four Americans dead.
