Bloomberg News

McCain Says He’s Leaning Against Confirming Hagel at Defense

By Daniel Enoch
February 10, 2013

Senator John McCain said he’s leaning against voting to confirm Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s nominee as defense secretary, citing Hagel’s opposition to then-President George W. Bush’s plan to send additional troops to Iraq.

Commenting today on the “Fox News Sunday” program, McCain, an Arizona Republican, said Hagel was wrong to oppose the so-called surge and he knows he was wrong, yet he refused to say so under questioning at a Senate Hearing. When asked if it was fair to say that he was “leaning” against voting to confirm Hagel, McCain agreed. Hagel, a former Rebublican senator from Nebraska, is a Vietnam war veteran, as is McCain.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Enoch at denoch@bloomberg.net

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