June 19, 2013

Politics

Obama slams GOP over delay of Hagel confirmation

BY: AP Staff Writer FEBRUARY 14, 2013 | MODIFIED: FEBRUARY 14, 2013 AT 7:02 PM
Leave a comment

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is criticizing Senate Republicans for delaying the confirmation of Chuck Hagel as his secretary of defense. The president said his opponents are using politics while the nation is still in a war in Afghanistan.

Obama called Hagel, who is a former senator and Vietnam veteran, "eminently" qualified for the job Thursday and expressed confidence he would ultimately be confirmed. He said Republicans now insist that every issue and nomination requires a super majority of 60 votes.

Senate Democrats on Thursday came up short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural step that would have permitted a vote on Hagel's confirmation.

Obama said blocking Hagel with a filibuster was "just about unprecedented."

The president made his remarks during a Google online forum to promote his initiatives.

View article comments Leave a comment

More from washingtonexaminer.com

From the Weekly Standard

  • Frack to the Future

    Williston, N.D.

    Read More...
  • Downsize Ike

    The beleaguered Eisenhower Memorial Commission holds its next public gathering later this month, and before its members duck-walk into the hearing room, huddled in a hoplite phalanx against a...

    Read More...
  • The Lesson of Kermit Gosnell

    What was the lesson of the Kermit Gosnell trial? Since the Philadelphia doctor was convicted last month of murdering three born-alive infants, two competing viewpoints have emerged.

    Read More...