Washington (CNN) - On his second day at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel is trying to set his Iran record straight, saying he supports tough international sanctions against Iran, in an attempt to counter complained by critics who say he favored talking directly with the government in Tehran, according to defense officials with direct knowledge of the nominees conversations Wednesday.
Hagel told Pentagon staff he also believes all options in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program should be on the table, including military action, according to the officials.
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(CNN) – Former Sen. Chuck Hagel's name has yet to be officially sent to the Senate for confirmation as President Barack Obama's next secretary of defense, yet he faced a wave of skepticism from lawmakers Sunday about past positions on Iran that appear out of line with Obama's own policies.
"A lot of Republicans are going to ask him hard questions," Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I don't think he's going to get many Republicans' votes. I like Chuck, but his positions are really out of the mainstream and well to the left of the president."
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Washington (CNN) - Calls of concern and support over President Obama's possible pick to be the next secretary of defense are piling up as former colleagues and special interest organizations take aim at and defend the independent-thinking former senator.
Chuck Hagel is believed to be the president's preferred candidate to run the Pentagon, but an announcement has yet to be made by the White House.
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(CNN) - The White House has ordered the military to start planning for the possibility of cutting $500 billion from its budget over the next 10 years as part of the fiscal cliff, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday.
Agency spokesman George Little told reporters that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructed the Defense Department to start internal planning for possible spending reductions on top of other cuts already in the pipeline.
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(CNN) - Several U.S. veterans will serve in a new way this coming year: they were elected to Congress. CNN's Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon.
(CNN) - On the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney shook hands with first responders in Chicago, and at the National Guard Association Convention he criticized Pentagon budget cuts which would come with the so-called "fiscal cliff." CNN's Jim Acosta reports.
(CNN) - Assistance to military voters is the best it has ever been, the Pentagon said on Wednesday in rebutting criticism that it is not helping troops navigate the voting process.
"Voting assistance for our absentee military and overseas citizen voters has never been better," said Pam Mitchell, the acting director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which oversees the effort.
FULL STORY(CNN) - The much-anticipated memoir of a Navy SEAL who helped kill Osama bin Laden hits bookshelves Tuesday to an eager audience whose pre-orders have already put the book at No. 1 on Amazon's bestseller list for two weeks.
But there is one group who may not be as eager to see the release of "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden."
The Pentagon.
(CNN) – Two high-profile governors had vastly different assessments Sunday of who was to blame for the massive cuts to defense spending that are slated to go into effect at the beginning of next year.
The so-called "fiscal cliff," which would force the Pentagon to cut $500 billion from its budgets over the next decade, came about after congressional negotiators failed to agree on a deficit-reduction plan last fall. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, blamed the potential cuts on the White House, while Gov. Deval Patrick, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Republicans in Congress were to blame.
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Washington (CNN) - Ten days after the military dumped its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays and lesbians in the military, the Pentagon has issued new rules allowing military chaplains to perform same-sex marriages, but only if allowed by law and the chaplain's beliefs.
"A military chaplain may participate in or officiate any private ceremony, whether on or off a military installation, provided that the ceremony is not prohibited by applicable state and local law," a memo released Friday says. "Further a chaplain is not required to participate in or officiate a private ceremony if doing so would be in variance with the tenets of his or her religion."
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