Sen. John McCain told NBC’s Meet the Press that former Republican senator and nominee for the Secretary of Defense position will likely be confirmed by Congress, reported The Hill Tube blog.
“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,” McCain said on the show.
“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 added.
McCain went on to say he still had questions over the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya and that he would not be voting in favor of Hagel’s nomination.
Hagel was narrowly cleared the Democratic-controlled Senate Armed Services Committee in a 14 to 11 vote on Wednesday.
During his confirmation hearing, the former Republican Senator was questioned in depth over his commitment to Israel and opposition to the 2007 surge of troops to Iraq.
