The Senate has failed, 40-58, to pass a motion by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to close debate on the nomination of Chuck Hagel to the post of Secretary of Defense. A Republican filibuster held, as Democrats failed to muster the 60 votes necessary to pass cloture and move to a full vote on Hagel’s confirmation.
New evidence emerged Thursday of speeches that Hagel had given in 2007 and 2008. The former included endorsement for a U.S. consulate in Iran, and allegedly also included a comment accusing Israel of controlling the State Department. The latter, a speech to the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in 2008, was not disclosed to the Senate Armed Services Committee as requested, and was produced by the ADC today.