WASHINGTON
(AP) -- President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate Chuck Hagel as
his next defense secretary and counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to
lead the Central Intelligence Agency, two potentially controversial
picks for his second-term national security team.
Hagel,
even before being nominated, has faced tough criticism from
congressional Republicans who say the former GOP senator is anti-Israel
and soft on Iran. And Brennan, a 25-year CIA veteran, withdrew from
consideration for the spy agency's top job in 2008 amid questions about
his connection to enhanced interrogation techniques during the George W.
Bush administration.
Administration
officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Obama will announce
both nominations at a White House event Monday afternoon. Along with
secretary of state nominee Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Hagel and Brennan
would play key roles implementing and shaping Obama's national security
priorities in a second term. All three men must be confirmed by the
Senate.
In nominating Hagel, Obama signaled he
is willing to take on a tough confirmation fight. Once Hagel emerged as
Obama's likely nominee, GOP lawmakers began sharply questioning his
commitment to Israel and his willingness to take a hard line with Iran
over its disputed nuclear program.
Hagel, a
66-year-old moderate Nebraska Republican, has criticized discussion of a
military strike by either the U.S. or Israel against Iran. He also
irritated some Israel backers with his reference to the "Jewish lobby"
in the United States. And he has backed efforts to bring Iran to the
table for future peace talks in Afghanistan.
White
House officials say Hagel's positions on Israel and Iran have been
misrepresented. They cite his Senate votes for billions in military
assistance to Israel and his support for multilateral sanctions on
Tehran.
Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said Hagel will be "completely in line with the president" on both issues.
"The
president has a record of unprecedented security cooperation with
Israel and that's going to continue no matter who the defense secretary
is," Rhodes said.
Hagel has also been
criticized by some Democrats for saying in 1998 that a nominee for an
ambassador post was "openly, aggressively gay." He has since apologized
for those comments.
Hagel is the second
straight Obama favorite for a top national security post to face
criticism from Capitol Hill even before being nominated. United Nations
Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration for secretary
of state amid charges from GOP senators that she misled the public in
her initial accounting of the attacks on Americans at a diplomatic post
in Benghazi, Libya.
Obama returned to the
White House on Sunday after a truncated family holiday in Hawaii. His
week will also include a visit from Afghan President Hamid Karzai. And
there's a bruising fight with Congress over spending and the federal
deficit on the horizon, just days after Obama and Congress averted the
fiscal cliff with a last-minute deal over the New Year's holiday. But
rounding out his national security team in his first project.
Both
Hagel and Brennan have close relationships with Obama, who values
loyalty in his inner circle. Brennan, as the president's top
counterterrorism adviser, was deeply involved in the planning of the
2011 raid that killed Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. And he has
led administration efforts to quell the growth of terror organizations
in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.
Brennan,
57, spent a quarter-century at the CIA. He served as station chief in
Saudi Arabia and in a variety of posts, including deputy executive
director, during the Bush administration.
His
tenure at the agency during Bush's presidency drew criticism from
liberals when Obama considered naming him CIA director after the 2008
election. Brennan denied being involved in the Bush administration's
enhanced interrogation techniques, but still withdrew his name from
consideration.
In a letter to Obama at the
time, Brennan said he was "a strong opponent of many of the policies of
the Bush administration, such as the preemptive war in Iraq and coercive
interrogation tactics, to include waterboarding." Many people consider
waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods to be torture.
White
House officials say they don't expect Brennan to face similar trouble
this time around given his four years of service in the Obama
administration.
"The issue has been removed
from the debate because the president and John Brennan, as his top
counterterrorism adviser, brought those techniques to an end," Rhodes
said.
However, Brennan's nomination will
likely put a spotlight on the administration's controversial drone
program. Brennan was the first Obama administration official to publicly
acknowledge the highly secretive targeted killing operations.
Brennan
has defended the legality of the overseas drone operations and has said
they protect American lives and prevent potential terror attacks.
If confirmed, Brennan will succeed David Petraeus, who resigned in November after admitting to an affair with his biographer.
Deputy
CIA director Michael Morell has been serving as the agency's acting
director since Petraeus resigned and was considered by Obama for the top
job. Rhodes said Morell will attend Monday's White House event and is
expected to stay at the CIA.
Hagel would
replace retiring Pentagon chief Leon Panetta at a time when the Defense
Department is facing potentially deep budget cuts. Hagel would also be
tasked with overseeing the military drawdown in Afghanistan, where the
U.S.-led war is scheduled to end in two years.
Hagel is likely to support a more rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan than some military generals.
Sen.
Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican, said Sunday he was
reserving judgment on whether to support Hagel but predicted the former
senator would face serious questions.
Any
nominee must have "a full understanding of our close relationship with
out Israeli allies, the Iranian threat and the importance of having a
robust military," McConnell said on ABC's "This Week."
The
second-ranking Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, said in a
statement that making Hagel defense secretary would be "the worst
possible message we could send to our friend Israel and the rest of our
allies in the Middle East."
Despite the criticism, no Republican lawmakers have threatened to try to block Hagel's nomination.
Monday's
nominations leave Obama without a woman in line for a top
administration post, a fact that has irked some Democratic women. The
president will soon name a new treasury secretary, but current White
House chief of staff Jack Lew is the front-runner for the post.
© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
