"Defense Secretary Nominee Hagel Faces More Hurdles in Bid for Nomination" PBS Newshour 2/14/2013
Excerpt
SEN. HARRY REID, D-Nev.: There has never in the history of the country been a filibuster of a defense secretary nominee, never.
MARGARET WARNER (Newshour): Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went to the Senate floor this morning and blasted Republicans for blocking a vote on Chuck Hagel for the Pentagon's top job.
HARRY REID: This isn't a high school getting ready for a football game or some play that's being produced at a high school. This is -- we're trying to confirm somebody to run the defenses of our country.
MARGARET WARNER: Democrats hold a 55-45 edge in the Senate, but it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster, meaning five Republicans would have had to break ranks to make that happen.
But partisan divisions were on display Tuesday, as the Armed Services Committee approved the Hagel nomination on a straight party-line vote 14-11. That followed a contentious hearing in January, as Hagel's former Republican colleagues attacked him on several fronts, including his criticism of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq.
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