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Excerpt: "Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel submitted his resignation Monday, bowing to pressure from the White House to step down after less than two years in the job in what could portend a broader shakeup among President Obama’s national security team."

Chuck Hagel. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Chuck Hagel. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)


Hagel Resigns Under Pressure

By The Washington Post

24 November 14

 

efense Secretary Chuck Hagel submitted his resignation Monday, bowing to pressure from the White House to step down after less than two years in the job in what could portend a broader shakeup among President Obama's national security team.

Hagel resigned after holding a series of discussions with Obama and other White House officials in recent weeks. A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Obama and Hagel "both determined that it was time for new leadership at the Pentagon."

Hagel will remain as defense secretary until Obama can pick a replacement, who must also be confirmed by the Senate. Possible contenders include Michele Flournoy and Ashton Carter, former high-ranking defense officials during Obama's first term who were passed over for the top job in favor of Hagel two years ago.

Obama was scheduled later Monday to make a public announcement about his decision to replace Hagel.

Rumors had intensified this month that Hagel's time was short, though the former Republican senator from Nebraska has insisted in recent interviews that he was planning to stay at the Pentagon. The resignation was first reported by The New York Times.

A senior administration official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Obama initiated discussions with Hagel about leaving in October - shortly before the mid-term congressional elections that saw the president's party take a beating.

Hagel never quite recovered from a stumbling performance during his confirmation process that led the Senate to approve his nomination by a narrow 58-41 vote in February 2013. The margin was exceptionally narrow, especially given the fact that he had served two terms in the Senate. Only four GOP senators voted for their fellow Republican.

Since then, he has been a relatively quiet voice on national security matters, ceding the stage to other figures such as Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Hagel served in the Senate with Obama and the two bonded during overseas trips, where both were leading critics of the Iraq war during the administration of former President George W. Bush. He was tapped to replace Leon Panetta at the Pentagon at the end of Obama's first term in the White House.

Unlike Panetta and his predecessor, Robert M. Gates, Hagel was generally accepting of the White House's push to keep a lid on defense spending, which had soared after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

He was most visible in supporting Obama's strategic "pivot" to Asia, taking numerous trips to visit allies in that part of the world. But his time spent in Asia came at the expense of making his presence felt in the Middle East and Afghanistan, which continued to dominate the national security agenda despite the White House's desire to wind down U.S. military involvement in the region.


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