Schumer Supports Hagel for Defense Secretary
Had withheld support until learning more about stances on Iran and Israel
Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democratic leader, said he intends to support Chuck Hagel's nomination as secretary of defense, after withholding his backing until he learned more about Hagel's positions on policy toward Israel and Iran.
Schumer said today in an e-mailed statement that he made his decision after meeting with Hagel yesterday for almost 90 minutes. The senator said he received assurances that Hagel "would do 'whatever it takes' to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including the use of military force," that he supports sanctions against Iran and that he regrets comments about the influence of what he called the "Jewish lobby."
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?