White House Sweetly And Sourly Pushes Chuck Hagel Out As Secretary Of Defense
At around 9:30 Monday morning, White House reporters got this comically bland update to the president’s schedule: “11:10AM THE PRESIDENT makes a personnel announcement.” This was followed by official leaks that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is resigning. By the time President Obama made the announcement in the East Room of the White House, accompanied by Hagel and Vice President Joe Biden, his warm sendoff to Hagel contrasted sharply with comments from within the administration and the Defense Department.
In his remarks, Obama could hardly have been more kind to Hagel, calling him an “exemplary” defense secretary, lauding a long list of accomplishments, and repeatedly describing Hagel as a friend:
“Let me just say that chuck is and has been a great friend of mine. I’ve known him, admired him, and trusted him for nearly a decade since I was a green behind the ears freshman senator, and we were both on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. There’s one thing I know about Chuck, he does not make this, or any, decision lightly. This decision does not come easily to him. I consider myself lucky to have him by my side for two years.”
Hagel spoke briefly following the president’s announcement, echoing much of what the president said, and thanking him for giving him the opportunity to serve:
The announcement of Hagel’s resignation was also attended by National Security Adviser Susan Rice, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, White House Counselor John Podesta, White House Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
Hagel will stay on until a successor is confirmed. The early short-listers are former Undersecretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy and former Deputy Defense secretary Ashton Carter, as well as Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).
The official line on Hagel’s resignation is that this was a mutual decision that was initiated by Hagel, but within minutes of the story breaking…READ MORE
Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher
Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
2 responses to White House Sweetly And Sourly Pushes Chuck Hagel Out As Secretary Of Defense
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libpatriot November 24th, 2014 at 19:54
Michèle Flournoy! She works well with the president’s inner circle, she has a long management history, she has a long history working with people inside the Pentagon,she has credibility to persuade Republicans defense cuts can be made without sacrificing defense readiness, and she can influence Democrats to support aggressive policies against enemies–when agression is needed–without pursuing strategies that get us into quagmires.
Personally, she was the choice I wanted when Leon Panetta left nearly two years ago–and I winced when Hagel was the one chosen. The guy’s a hero, but he’s no manager and he never had the connections in either Pentagon or White House.
libpatriot November 24th, 2014 at 20:54
Michèle Flournoy! She works well with the president’s inner circle, she has a long management history, she has a long history working with people inside the Pentagon,she has credibility to persuade Republicans defense cuts can be made without sacrificing defense readiness, and she can influence Democrats to support aggressive policies against enemies–when agression is needed–without pursuing strategies that get us into quagmires.
Personally, she was the choice I wanted when Leon Panetta left nearly two years ago–and I winced when Hagel was the one chosen. The guy’s a hero, but he’s no manager and he never had the connections in either Pentagon or White House.