The Arizona senator and former Republican presidential nominee said on Meet the Press this morning that, Chuck Hagel, the beleaguered nominee for secretary of defense, will be approved by the Senate returns:
The fact is that Chuck Hagel made statements and took votes in the United States Senate particularly about Iran, his comments about Israel were atrocious, but he will be confirmed.
We will have a vote when we get back and I am confident that Sen. Hagel probably will have the votes necessary to be confirmed as the secretary of Defense.
McCain joined the filibuster against the former Nebraskan Republican last week but said he did so because he wanted more time to examine Hagel’s record. He now says the filibuster-caused delay was sufficient for that purpose: “I don’t believe he is qualified but I don’t believe we should hold up his nomination any further.”
His comments were greeted with disdain on the right. “The whole point of the filibuster is to germinate the seeds of doubt amongst Senators whose commitment is less than rock solid. Now McCain has uprooted those seeds,” said the American Spectator’s Aaron Goldstein.
