Tag Archives: Carl Levin

News, Politics, Government

Senior GOP senator puts hold on Dempsey nomination

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A senior Republican senator said Thursday he will block Army Gen. Martin Dempsey’s nomination for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff due to his dissatisfaction with the officer’s responses to questions about the potential use of U.S. military power in Syria.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona pressed Dempsey during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to provide his personal opinion on which approach in Syria carries greater risk for U.S. national security interests: continued limited action on the part of Washington, or more significant steps such as establishment of a no-fly zone and arming rebel forces with the weapons they need to stem the advance of President Bashir Assad’s forces.

Dempsey said that he has provided President Barack Obama with options for the use of military force in Syria. But he declined to detail those choices, saying that “it would be inappropriate for me to try to influence the decision with me rendering an opinion in public about what kind of force we should use.”

During a testy exchange with McCain, the general added that he would “let this committee know what my recommendations are at the appropriate time.”

Dempsey’s response, McCain said, contradicted his commitment to provide the committee with his personal views, even if those opinions differ from the administration in power.

McCain told reporters after leaving the hearing room that he planned to put a hold on the nomination, essentially blocking any further Senate action until he gets an adequate response from Dempsey.

“I want to see him answer the question,” McCain said. “Hello!”

The situation in Syria, where a civil war entering its third year has killed almost 93,000 people, figured prominently amid an increasing clamor among Assad’s opposition for active U.S. involvement.

Senators including Carl Levin, D-Mich., the committee chairman, and McCain have been pressing Obama to take a more forceful approach to defeat Assad’s forces. While the administration has authorized lethal aid to rebel forces battling Assad’s troops, it isn’t trying to enforce a no-fly zone in which Syria’s combat aircraft would be barred from flying, or otherwise intervene militarily to halt the war.

“Senator, I am in favor of building a moderate opposition and supporting it,” Dempsey told McCain. “The question whether to support it with direct kinetic …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Ex-JPMorgan Exec Says Jamie Dimon Withheld Data From U.S.

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By The Associated Press

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Douglas Braunstein, vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co., arrives to a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, March 15, 2013. (Andrew Harrer, Bloomberg via Getty Images)

By MARCY GORDON

WASHINGTON (AP) – JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon held back showing federal regulators reports in May that revealed the bank had accumulated billions of dollars in trading losses, according to congressional testimony Friday from the firm’s former chief financial officer.

Douglas Braunstein, who is now a vice chairman at the bank, told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that Dimon did not submit the daily reports for two weeks because he was concerned about “confidentiality.”

Dimon ultimately acknowledged later that month that the firm had lost $2 billion on risky trades out of its London office. The losses have since been revised to more than $6 billion.

The Senate hearing was held a day after the subcommittee issued a scathing report that ascribed widespread blame for losses to key executives at the firm. The report said that the executives ignored growing risks and hid losses from investors and federal regulators.

After reading the report and hearing executives testify that they didn’t know who was responsible for informing regulators, members of the panel questioned whether the nation’s biggest bank had become too large to manage.

The “trading culture at JPMorgan … piled on risk, hid losses, disregarded risk limits, manipulated risk models, dodged oversight and misinformed the public,” Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the subcommittee’s chairman, said Friday at the hearing.

On Thursday, JPMorgan acknowledged it made mistakes but rejected any assertions that it concealed losses or risks. A spokesman declined to comment directly on the accusation that Dimon knew of the trading loss in April.

Dimon was not a witness at Friday’s hearing.

In April, news reports said a trader in JPMorgan’s London office known as “the whale” had taken huge risks that were roiling the markets. Dimon immediately dismissed the reports as a “tempest in a teapot” during a conference call with analysts.

But Dimon acknowledged the losses a month later. And he told a separate Senate committee in June that the bank showed “bad judgment,” was “stupid” and “took far too much risk.” He also had his compensation last year reduced by 50 percent, as did Braunstein.

The hearing featured testimony from Braunstein and Ina Drew, who was the firm’s chief investment officer overseeing trading strategy at the time of the losses.

Both were asked about information that bank executives gave to federal examiners in April that significantly understated losses for the first quarter of 2012. The numbers they gave the regulators were well below what was known inside the bank, said Levin.

“The number I reported (to the regulators) was the number that was given to me,” Drew testified.

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Drew blamed the losses on executives …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Jobless Claims Send the Dow Higher Again

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By Jeremy Bowman, The Motley Fool

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Based on the strength of today’s unemployment claims report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average started off strong and held a steady line for the day’s session, finishing up 0.6%, or 84 points, to close at 14,539. It was the first time the Dow broke 14,500, and the blue chips’ tenth consecutive day of gains. The S&P 500, meanwhile, closed just two points away from its all-time closing high, finishing at 1,563, up 0.6% or nine points. Trading was light, as it has been all week, on relatively little news.

Initial unemployment claims continued to decline, falling to 332,000 last week, significantly below economist expectations of 350,000. The four-week moving average, generally seen as a more accurate indicator of the job market, fell to 346,750, its lowest level in five years, indicating the labor market and the overall economy are continuing to improve.

After gaining 1.7% during the day, JPMorgan Chase shares were off 2% after hours after a Senate probe revealed that the banking giant was at fault in the so-called “London whale” that led to a $6.2 billion loss. The Senate subcommittee said that executives at JPMorgan ignored growing risks, and covered up losses from shareholders and government oversight. Carl Levin, the chairman of the subcommittee, said the bank made “many, many failures,” some of which were “serious and indeed egregious.”

Separately, JPMorgan said it would cut its buyback plan in half, to $6 billion over the next 12 months, and raise its quarterly dividend from $0.30 to $0.38, after the Federal Reserve released its decisions on the big banks’ plans to return capital. The Fed cited “weaknesses” in JPMorgan’s plan, and requested resubmission by the end of the third quarter.

Bank of America fared better, jumping 3% after hours, as the Fed approved its plan to repurchase $5 billion in common stock, and $5.5 billion in preferred shares. Bank of America had formerly been under close oversight by the Fed as it struggled to recapitalize following the financial crisis. B of A did not request permission to raise its quarterly dividend, which sits at just $0.01. Banking shares were generally up after hours, because the Fed gave full approval to all 18 lenders under review except JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, BB&T, and Ally Financial.

Elsewhere, Amazon.com shares took a hit, falling 3.4% after JPMorgan downgraded its rating on the online titan from “overweight” to “neutral.” JPMorgan said it saw gross profit growth slowing as the retailer switches from first-party to third-party sales. Analyst Doug Anmuth expects gross profit growth to drop from 40% in 2012, to 31% this year.

With big finance firms still trading at deep discounts to their historic norms, investors everywhere are wondering if this is the new normal, or whether finance stocks are a screaming buy today. The answer depends on the company, so to help figure out whether JPMorgan is a buy today, I invite you to read our premium …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

JPMorgan Hid London Whale Trading Risks, Senate Panel Says

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By The Associated Press

Filed under: ,

By MARCY GORDON

WASHINGTON (AP) – A Senate panel on Thursday issued a scathing assessment of JPMorgan’s (JPM) $6.2 billion trading loss last year. The investigation found that bank executives ignored growing risks and hid losses from investors and federal regulators.

Executives at JPMorgan understated the trading losses to federal examiners by hundreds of millions of dollars and dismissed questions raised about the trading risks, according to the report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The report suggests that key executives, including CEO Jamie Dimon, were aware of huge losses at the bank, even while they were downplaying the risks publicly. The report also blames federal regulators for lax oversight that allowed the nation’s largest bank to pile up risky bets.

On Thursday, JPMorgan acknowledged it made mistakes but rejected any assertions that it concealed losses or risks. A spokesman declined to comment directly on the accusation that Dimon knew of the trading loss in April.

“While we have repeatedly acknowledged mistakes, our senior management acted in good faith and never had any intent to mislead anyone,” JPMorgan said in a statement Thursday. “We know we have made many mistakes …. We have taken significant steps to remediate these issues and to learn from them.”

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the subcommittee’s chairman, said the probe showed “many, many failures” at the bank, some of them “serious and indeed egregious.”

The committee will question bank executives and regulators Friday at a hearing on the trading loss.

In April, news reports said a trader in JPMorgan’s London office known as “the whale” had taken huge risks that were roiling the markets. Dimon immediately dismissed the reports as a “tempest in a teapot” during a conference call with analysts.

But in May, Dimon acknowledged that the bank had lost roughly $2 billon. And during testimony to a separate Senate panel in June, Dimon said the bank showed “bad judgment,” was “stupid” and “took far too much risk.”

The figure was later revised to more than $6 billion.

JPMorgan executives said publicly that the trades were made for the purpose of hedging against risk. An internal report at the bank blamed traders in the London unit for trying to hide the size of the loss and not keeping bank executives informed.

But the Senate report says executives inaccurately said the trading decisions were based on a long-term strategy and that the trading positions were fully transparent to regulators. And, it says there is evidence that Dimon and other key executives had information in April about the operation’s huge and complex portfolio, as well as its losses for three straight months.

The bank “gambled away billions of dollars through risky and exotic trades, then intentionally hid its losses from investors and the public, showing complete disregard for risk management procedures and regulatory oversight,” Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the subcommittee’s …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Articles of Interest

Scott Romney Considering 2014 Senate Run In Michigan: Report

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

The Romney name may appear on the ballot once again in 2014. Roll Call reported Friday that former presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s brother Scott is considering a run for retiring Sen. Carl Levin’s (D-Mich.) seat.

According to the report, a Michigan GOP source close to Scott Romney — Mitt Romney’s older brother — has expressed interest in running. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post later reported that he had been told the same.

Scott Romney, 71, a Michigan State University and Harvard Law alumnus, currently works as a corporate attorney at the law firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, LLP in Detroit. He made a public political appearance at last year’s Republican National Convention, announcing Michigan’s delegation.

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Democrats Face Challenging Senate Landscape

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

WASHINGTON — After a surprising string of victories last fall, Democrats now face a challenging terrain as they look to hold onto their Senate majority in 2014 and prevent Republicans from gaining full control of Congress during President Barack Obama‘s final two years. His party must defend a hefty 21 seats, including seven in largely rural states that the president lost last fall.

The task of maintaining control of the Senate has grown more daunting in recent weeks, with four Senate Democrats announcing plans to retire. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan disclosed his decision on Thursday, following Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller. New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg has also said he will retire, but Democrats will be heavily favored to hold the seat. A fifth Democratic retirement could come soon from South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson, who has not yet announced his intentions.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

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Carl Levin Retires: Senator’s Exit Gives Michigan GOP Rare Shot At Senate

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

LANSING, Mich. — U.S. Sen. Carl Levin‘s decision to not seek re-election gives candidates a once-in-a-career opportunity and the Michigan GOP a chance to prove it can win a Senate election.

Democrats are left to keep a seat that hasn’t been closely contested since the Detroit Tigers won the World Series in 1984.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

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Sen. Carl Levin Will Not Seek Re-election In 2014

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By Breaking News

Carl Levin SC Sen. Carl Levin will not seek re election in 2014

WASHINGTON— Democratic Sen. Carl Levin announced Thursday he will not seek re-election in 2014, saying he wants to serve as Senate Armed Services chairman and an advocate for his home state of Michigan “without the distraction of campaigning for re-election.”

Levin, 78, was first elected to the Senate in 1978 and is the longest-serving senator in Michigan’s history. He said in a statement that he struggled to make a decision along with his wife, Barbara, calling it “extremely difficult because I love representing the people of Michigan” and “fighting for the things that I believe are important for them.”

Levin is the sixth member of the Senate to announce his retirement, creating an open seat for Democrats in a state that has backed President Barack Obama twice but where Republicans hold the governor’s office. Democrats, who control 55 seats in the Senate, have to defend open seats in West Virginia, Iowa and New Jersey in the aftermath of three other retirements and will try to hold onto 21 seats in next year’s elections.

The last time Michigan had an open Senate seat was in 1994 and Levin’s retirement could create a large field of potential successors. Rep. Gary Peters, a Democrat who represents suburban Detroit, has been viewed as a potential Senate candidate along with former Rep. Mark Schauer and Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell, the wife of Rep. John Dingell. Potential GOP candidates include Reps. Mike Rogers, Dave Camp, Candice Miller and Justin Amash and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley. Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a statement that he would not seek the Senate seat.

Read More at OfficialWire . By Ken Thomas .

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism

News, Politics, Government

Hagel stalled, but confirmation still expected

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By delaying a confirmation vote on Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary, Senate Republicans have forced Leon Panetta to remain on the job he is eager to give up. But they’ve also given the White House an opportunity to cast the GOP as obstructing President Barack Obama‘s assembly of a second-term national security team.

Senate Republicans temporarily blocked a Hagel confirmation vote on Thursday, insisting that the administration must first answer more questions about its handling of a terrorist attack last September on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, called it “political posturing.”

“Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, it got worse,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said after the GOP forced the delay.

The Senate action amounted to a parliamentary maneuver, with Democrats needing 60 votes for Hagel’s confirmation to move forward. It fell two votes short.

Still, Hagel is likely to win confirmation on a mostly party-line vote after the Senate returns from next week’s recess. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said he expects many of his Republican colleagues to join him then to end the debate.

Alexander stopped short of predicting Hagel will be confirmed, but that is almost assured if he only needs a simple majority, and Democrats control the Senate by a 55-45 margin. Alexander called Thursday’s vote “unfortunate” and “unnecessary” because Hagel’s nomination came up on the Senate floor too quickly — just two days after it was approved by a divided Armed Services Committee.

The unprecedented stall tactic against a defense secretary nominee raised the rancor of frustrated Democrats, who immediately accused Republicans of threatening security and said they unnecessarily undercut U.S. credibility abroad.

“The world is too dangerous to have this period of uncertainty,” said Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The nomination of John Brennan as CIA director was also delayed; the Senate Intelligence Committee pushed off a vote amid Republican demands that the White House turn over more details about drone strikes against terror suspects and about the Benghazi attack.

In contrast, the Senate swiftly confirmed John Kerry to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

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Senate panel to vote on Defense nominee Hagel

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Chuck Hagel — Republican, twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran and former Nebraska senator — faces his first major hurdle in his bid to become the nation’s defense secretary as a bitterly divided Senate Armed Services Committee pushes toward a vote on his nomination.

The panel is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss and vote on President Barack Obama‘s choice to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who is stepping down after four years as CIA director and Pentagon chief. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is pressing for a full Senate vote on either Wednesday or Thursday.

Hagel faces fierce opposition from Republicans who have challenged his past statements and votes on Israel, Iran, Iraq and nuclear weapons. Committee Republicans forced a delay in the expected committee vote last week when they pressed Hagel for more information about his personal finances.

The panel’s chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said the GOP demands were beyond the scope of those traditionally asked of previous nominees, Republican and Democrat — a point echoed by his Republican colleague, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Levin set a committee vote that will probably break along party lines — 14 Democrats for Hagel, 12 Republicans against their former colleague — just hours before Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress.

More critical to whether Republicans drag out the nomination is the closed-door, weekly Republican luncheon Tuesday where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will determine whether GOP lawmakers have the inclination and votes to filibuster a president’s Cabinet choice. Such a move would be unprecedented in the Senate, where Republicans and Democrats have argued that a president’s nominee should get an up or down vote.

Late Monday, McCain met privately with several committee Republicans and urged them not to filibuster the Hagel nomination, arguing that it would set a bad precedent and pointing out that the roles could be reversed someday with a Republican president and GOP-controlled Senate.

“I’m encouraging my colleagues if they want to vote against Sen. Hagel that’s one thing and that’s a principled stand,” McCain told a group of reporters. “We do not want to filibuster. We have not filibustered a Cabinet appointee in the past and I believe that we should move forward with his nomination, bring it to the floor and vote up or down.”

McCain has not said how he would vote on the nomination, but has indicated he was …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

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Senate panel to vote Tuesday on Hagel nomination

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Senate Democrats are pushing ahead with a vote Tuesday on Chuck Hagel‘s nomination to be defense secretary, rejecting Republican demands for more financial information from Hagel in a politically charged fight over President Barack Obama‘s second-term national security team.

In a brief statement, Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said the panel would meet Tuesday afternoon with the “intention to vote on the nomination after the members have an opportunity for discussion.” Levin had hoped to hold a committee vote last Thursday, but postponed it amid complaints from Republicans that Hagel hadn’t sufficiently answered questions about his personal finances.

Not all Republicans shared that view, however.

“I have examined the information and responses to members’ questions that Senator Hagel has provided to the committee, and I believe that he has fulfilled the rigorous requirements that the committee demands of every presidential nominee to be secretary of defense,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement Monday backing Levin’s plans for a vote.

McCain’s expression of confidence in Hagel’s answers was a crucial counterpoint to GOP criticism of the nominee, who still faces Republican threats to block or delay his selection. McCain, the panel’s former top Republican, has said he’s leaning against supporting his former colleague and friend, but he made clear he would not participate in any walkout by committee Republicans over a Hagel vote.

Obama tapped Hagel, a former two-term Nebraska Republican senator and twice-wounded combat veteran in Vietnam, to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who is stepping down after serving as CIA director and Pentagon chief in the president’s first term.

Hagel, 66, has faced strong opposition from Republicans over his past statements and votes on Israel, Iran, nuclear weapons and Iraq, in which he initially backed the war but later opposed it.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday that the full Senate could vote either Wednesday or Thursday on the nomination, dismissing talk of a filibuster of a Cabinet nominee as unprecedented.

“There’s never in the history of the country ever been a filibuster on a defense secretary, and I’m confident there won’t be on this one,” Reid said at the start of the Senate session.

Democrats hold a 14-12 edge on the Armed Services panel and it’s likely that Hagel will win approval on …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

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Senate Dem: GOP request to Hagel extraordinary

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The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Friday he will press ahead with a vote on Chuck Hagel‘s nomination to be defense secretary, rejecting Republicans demands for more financial information from President Barack Obama‘s choice as setting an unprecedented standard.

In a letter, Sen. Carl Levin provided a point-by-point rebuttal to the GOP requests for data on Hagel’s paid speeches and foreign donors to private entities he’s been affiliated with, arguing that the requirements exceed the committee’s rules and what has been asked of previous defense secretaries, Republican and Democrat.

“The committee cannot have two different sets of financial disclosure standards for nominees, one for Sen. Hagel and one for other nominees,” the Michigan Democrat wrote.

His letter was in response to Wednesday letter from 26 Senate Republicans to Hagel insisting that they needed more information before they could vote on his nomination. Among those signing the GOP letter were Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the Armed Services panel.

Republicans have asked Hagel to disclose all compensation of more than $5,000 from the past five years — three years more than the law or committee rules require. Levin said the panel’s two-year requirement on disclosure is consistent with the Ethics in Government Act as well as past practices for all nominees for Senate-confirmed positions and candidates for federal office.

Levin said the committee’s disclosure requirements for nominees have remained the same for 26 years, including his 16 as chairman or ranking member. In that nearly three-decade span, the committee has confirmed defense secretaries and other senior civilian nominees at the Pentagon with far more lucrative and extensive financial holdings than Hagel, including Republicans Frank Carlucci and Dick Cheney.

Inhofe said Friday that some members of the committee “believe in order to properly consider this nomination that additional information is required. I am working to address these members’ concerns.”

Hagel, 66, a former two-term Republican senator and decorated combat veteran in the Vietnam War, has faced fierce GOP opposition, with more than dozen Republicans announcing they will vote against him and several others indicating they were likely to vote no. Hagel has faced a barrage of criticism from lawmakers and GOP-leaning outside groups who have complained that he is too tolerant of Iran, too critical of Israel and willing to slash the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

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Senate chairman: Hagel nomination on track

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Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be the next defense secretary remains on track despite Republican demands for additional information about his paid speeches and business dealings, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Thursday.

The GOP requests dealt a setback to President Barack Obama‘s pick, forcing the committee to announce late Wednesday it would postpone a vote on the nomination. A new date has not been set.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the committee, said the additional requests were extraordinary and that Hagel had complied with the panel. He said he would move ahead with a vote as soon as possible.

“We can’t not vote because there’s dissatisfaction. That would be endless,” Levin told reporters. “We’re going to schedule a vote.”

Levin said he was confident the Senate would confirm Hagel, pointing out that none of the Senate’s 55 Democrats oppose the nominee, that two Republicans have announced their support and that several other GOP senators have said they would not back a filibuster.

“His confirmation is very much on track to me,” Levin said.

The White House said Thursday that Hagel has given lawmakers exhaustive information but will continue to disclose more to the Senate panel considering his nomination.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Hagel has turned over all available speech transcripts but that some of his speeches were never transcribed. He said it’s vital that the Pentagon position be filled and urged the Senate to approve Hagel quickly.

Republicans had complained in a letter that Hagel didn’t sufficiently answer questions, including details on all compensation of more than $5,000 that he had received over the past five years. They also pressed him on his recent speeches, which groups he has addressed and on donors to those groups.

“The committee, and the American people, have a right to know if a nominee for secretary of defense has received compensation, directly or indirectly, from foreign sources,” Senate Republicans wrote. “Until the committee receives full and complete answers, it cannot in good faith determine whether you should be confirmed as secretary of defense.”

Hagel insisted in a letter that he had been forthright with the panel and said the financial information being sought was legally controlled by …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

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Senate panel postpones vote on Hagel nomination

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A Senate panel on Wednesday abruptly postponed a vote on Chuck Hagel‘s nomination to be defense secretary amid Republican demands for more information from President Barack Obama‘s nominee about his finances.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, had hoped to vote on the nomination on Thursday during a separate hearing on Libya, but Levin issued a statement late Wednesday saying no vote would occur this week.

“The committee’s review of the nomination is not yet complete. I intend to schedule a vote on the nomination as soon as possible,” Levin said.

Hours earlier, committee Republicans said they were dissatisfied with information Hagel had provided the panel after his confirmation hearing last week and no vote should occur.

Hagel, a former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska, has faced strong opposition from his former GOP colleagues who have questioned his past statements and votes on Israel, Iran and nuclear weapons. It was unclear whether the delay in the vote would derail the nomination or merely postpone action on Obama‘s choice to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

In a letter to Hagel, Republicans complained that he failed to answer several questions, including details on all compensation of more than $5,000 that he had received over the past five years. They also had pressed him on his recent speeches, the groups he has addressed and their donors.

“The committee, and the American people, have a right to know if a nominee for secretary of defense has received compensation, directly or indirectly, from foreign sources,” Senate Republicans wrote. “Until the committee receives full and complete answers, it cannot in good faith determine whether you should be confirmed as secretary of defense.”

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter, which was signed by more than two dozen Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Freshman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who opposes Hagel’s nomination, had complained to his colleagues about the information the nominee provided during a closed meeting on Tuesday. Other Republicans raised objections to a vote.

“I’m not going to make any decision on Sen. Hagel until we get all the information we’ve requested,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told a small group of reporters on Wednesday. “I don’t think we should be voting.”

…read more
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Vets groups' praise for Hagel adds pressure on GOP

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Countering the Republican-led opposition to President Barack Obama‘s nominee for defense secretary is a less flashy but powerful constituency: military veterans.

Veterans’ organizations have praised Chuck Hagel, a twice-wounded combat veteran of Vietnam and deputy administrator in President Ronald Reagan’s Veterans Administration.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars has called him uniquely qualified to become Pentagon chief. The Military Officers Association of America said his experience gives him “a range of perspectives.” The American Legion said he was a longtime advocate for veterans.

The organizations, which as congressionally chartered, stopped short of an outright endorsement.

Republican-leaning outside groups have waged a well-funded campaign against Hagel, airing television commercials, running full-page newspaper ads and expressing their opposition on local radio stations.

Officials from Americans for a Strong Defense, hoping to pressure Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, spoke out on an Arkansas station this week.

Hagel’s first test could come as early as Thursday with a possible vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The committee chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has said he would like to vote when the committee holds a hearing with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on last September’s deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya.

Some Republicans on the committee are circulating a letter calling for a delay in the vote until Hagel provides more information about recent speeches, the groups he has addressed and their ties. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is dissatisfied with what Hagel, a former two-term GOP senator from Nebraska, has disclosed so far.

“I’m not going to make any decision on Sen. Hagel until we get all the information we’ve requested,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told a small group of reporters on Wednesday. “I don’t think we should be voting.”

Democrats were working to resolve the last-minute issues.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said his staff was trying to determine whether Cruz’s questions are “are keeping with the normal parameters of what nominees are supposed to provide or whether it exceeds that.”

In a letter to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who opposes the nominee, Hagel said he had …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

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Senate chair: Count up Hagel vote after hearing

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Top Senate Republicans said Tuesday they would reserve judgment on Chuck Hagel‘s nomination until after his confirmation hearing next week, a positive sign for President Barack Obama‘s choice to head the Defense Department.

Hagel, who already has drawn strong opposition from six Senate Republicans, continued his outreach to lawmakers on Tuesday, meeting with 11 senators. Among them were Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. John McCain, whose support for the nomination could smooth the way for the former GOP senator and provide political cover for other Republicans to back the nominee.

“Senator Hagel and I are old friends and we had a very frank and candid conversation, and I’ll be looking forward to the hearing and asking him questions,” the Arizona Republican told reporters at a news conference on his recent overseas trip. “He should be given the opportunity of a hearing before any of us make a judgment.”

Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said he pressed Hagel on a number of issues, but kept returning to the basics.

“Chuck Hagel would be the first enlisted man, the first volunteer to serve in Vietnam” to become defense secretary, Durbin said after a meeting with Hagel. “He served our nation in combat. He was wounded. I can understand why Obama has chosen him.”

Hagel, during a brief conversation with reporters in the Capitol, declined to answer specific questions, simply saying, “we have a hearing next week and I look forward to answering questions.”

The Hagel nomination gained momentum last week as Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., two of the strongest pro-Israel Democrats in the Senate, said the former Nebraska senator had addressed their concerns about his stand on Iran sanctions and support for Israel.

But Hagel still faces ambivalence among Republicans, if not outright opposition, and could emerge from the Senate committee vote with only party-line support. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the panel’s top Republican, has announced his opposition as have several other committee members.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said earlier in the day that it was too soon to count the votes and he would have a better assessment of the support for Hagel after his confirmation hearing on Jan. 31.

Asked if there were any Republican votes for Hagel, Levin said, “I haven’t seen any, but there may be that I haven’t seen. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be.”

Hagel was scheduled to meet on Wednesday with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., a committee member who has said she was perplexed by the nomination.

Another panel member, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said Tuesday, “I look forward to visiting with him and hearing his testimony and we’ll see where it goes.”

Durbin said Hagel was scheduled to meet with 20 other senators.

Concerns about Hagel replacing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have centered on whether he is sufficiently pro-Israel, his description of pro-Israel groups as a “Jewish lobby,” and his stand on gay rights. Some GOP lawmakers also are concerned about potential cuts to defense spending and Hagel’s past support for reductions in nuclear weapons.

“That’s of great importance to me,” said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Corker’s state is home to the Y-12 nuclear facility and significant cuts in the nuclear arsenal would affect his state.

“I want to delve beyond the one-liners and sentences that have been brought forth by groups. It’ll be a very earnest conversation. I always start with an open mind. But I do have concerns,” said Corker, who is scheduled to meet with Hagel on Friday.

Democrats hold a 55-45 advantage in the Senate and would have the votes to confirm Hagel on a simple majority, but they would need five Republican votes for the 60-vote threshold to break a GOP filibuster. A Republican effort to block Obama‘s choice of a former Republican senator would set off a firestorm as Senate leaders try to negotiate new rules on filibusters.

Separately, a GOP-leaning group launched an anti-Hagel ad campaign in the home states of five Senate Democrats up for re-election next year.

“Say no to Chuck Hagel before it’s too late,” said the commercials from Americans for a Stronger Defense. The spots target Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Udall of Colorado, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Kay Hagan of North Carolina.

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Associated Press writer Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

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