Posted on 11/24/2014 7:02:03 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
President Obama will announce the resignation of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday in the first high-profile personnel move since Democrats suffered significant losses in this month's midterm elections.
"In October, Secretary Hagel began speaking with the President about departing the administration given the natural post-midterms transition time," a senior administration official said.
Obama will make the announcement with Hagel at 11:00 a.m. According to the White House, a successor will be named "in short order," but Hagel will remain in the post until that person is confirmed by the Senate.
A senior administration official praised Hagel as "a steady hand, guiding our military through this transition, and helping us respond to challenges from [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] to Ebola."
But The New York Times, which first reported Hagel's departure, suggested the Defense secretary was being forced out over concerns over his ability to lead the campaign against ISIS.
An administration official told the Times that “the next couple of years will demand a different kind of focus" than he was able to provide. Hagel was originally expected to focus primarily on the winddown of the Afghanistan war and the reduction of the Pentagon budget under sequestration.
There have also been reports of high-profile clashes between Hagel and top White House officials, especially on ISIS policy.
Last month, CNN reported that Hagel wrote a memo to National Security Adviser Susan Rice sharply critical of the White House’s strategy toward Syria.
The unnamed source also indicated that Hagel was concerned that the U.S. could lose gains it made in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) if it did not alter its strategy toward Assad.
And a story last month in the Times suggested that Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel were struggling to win favor with the White House. The story suggested that Hagel was often silent in national security meetings, and that the president preferred to solicit advice from Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at the time the president was "proud of his national security team."
“The president and his senior team at the White House are proud of the work that the president’s Cabinet are performing to represent our interests around the globe,” Earnest sad.
And Hagel himself also brushed aside suggestion of tensions.
“Because we are a significant element of this issue, we owe the president and we owe the National Security Council our best thinking on this,” Hagel said. “And it has to be honest and it has to be direct.”
Top candidates to replace Hagel could include former Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).
Well, I guess he did part of his job well.
Margaret Thatcher is no longer available.
We’ve known for well over a decade, though, that Hagel has no balls and no sense of responsibility.
We’ve known for well over a decade, though, that Hagel has no balls and no sense of responsibility.
UpChuck is NOT a republican, is the worst of RINOs, and has no sense of responsibility other to himself and his higher office personal goals.
You mean which black guy, gay guy, lesbian, hispanic or transgender will Obama name to the position.
"She currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group and as a Senior Fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), which she co-founded in 2007." Source
Might as well toss him now, while your team is still in control.
Might I suggest Al Sharpton; he's tanned, rested, and ready.
Another black screaming insane communists. He almost has the total black population to chose from. And if that is racist then so be it. Truth hurts.
Obama legacy is Firsts , now the First Female Defense Secretary. This could also be Obama’s plan to Dismantle the US Nuclear Arsenal
The RATS love RINO’s in positions such as DoD head. Remember William Cohen? Hagel is now a man without a party and basically a man without much of anything. The GOP should shun this turncoat.
Hagel’s exit aside, 0bama’s military purge accelerates, as he replaces competent officers with party hacks who are poorly trained and ill-prepared. An unpleasant prospect for concerned Americans.
“Which Black guy will Obama name to the position?”
Could be a former military officer who is female, black and a lesbian.
He wants to put in someone else not acceptable, the Republicans won’t confirm and he will say the reason for the terror in the world is Republican’s fault. Everything Obama does is for a political end. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about America. I don’t say that lightly.
Check out her associations and personal think-tank in Post #47.
“Which Black guy will Obama name to the position?”
Allen West..
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...... Sometimes I crack myself up.
Whomever the new SoD is will be someone willing to negotiate with ISIS ...
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