WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) — Senate Republicans are trying to hold up the confirmation vote on President Obama’s defense secretary nominee, Chuck Hagel, a Senate aide said Wednesday.
Hagel’s nomination was expected to come up for a vote Thursday, but Republicans want more financial information from him, an unidentified Senate aide told The Hill. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., was trying to resolve the issue and so had not scheduled a vote, the Washington publication said.
Some GOP senators say they have questions about paid speeches Hagel, a Republican former senator from Nebraska, has made and want more financial documentation for organizations with which he is affiliated.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., told The Hill she signed a letter circulating among GOP senators urging a delay on the confirmation vote until they get what they want.
“Let’s get everything we need. That’s what I want,” Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the committee, said.
Hagel sent a letter to the Republicans Tuesday saying he had “made every effort” to meet the committee’s disclosure requirements.
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