Republicans Gird for Battle as Hagel Tipped for Pentagon

Comments from Republican lawmakers on Sunday presaged a fierce confirmation battle for the man U.S. President Barack Obama is reportedly about to nominate as his defense secretary: Chuck Hagel.

Obama has decided he wants the 66-year-old former Republican senator to succeed Leon Panetta at the Pentagon and will make his announcement as early as Monday, U.S. media, including CNN and Washington specialists Politico, said.

Despite the fact that Hagel is a fellow-Republican, party heavyweights have accused him of hostility toward Israel and naivete on Iran, auguring a tough Senate nomination process ahead.

The top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, praised Hagel when he left his Nebraska Senate seat in 2009 for his "clear voice and stature on national security and foreign policy," but his tone was markedly different on Sunday.

"He ought to be given a fair hearing like any other nominee, and he will be," McConnell told ABC's "This Week" program. "I'm going to wait and see how the hearings go and whether Chuck's views square with the job he would be nominated to do."

But leading Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Hagel would be "the most antagonistic defense secretary towards the state of Israel in our nation's history," and said he was "probably going to be a bridge too far for me and a lot of others."

Speaking on CNN, Graham said it would be an "in-your-face" and "incredibly controversial choice" by Obama, although he indicated that Hagel would have a chance to set the record straight during the confirmation process.

Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran, is known for a fiercely independent streak and a tendency to speak bluntly. Some Republicans have never forgiven him for his outspoken criticism of ex-president George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war.

If confirmed by the Senate as Pentagon chief, Hagel will have to manage major cuts to military spending while wrapping up the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan and preparing for worst-case scenarios in Iran or Syria.

"Chuck Hagel is a decorated war hero who would be the first enlisted soldier and Vietnam veteran to go on to serve as Secretary of Defense," a Democratic aide told Politico, explaining the White House's rationale.

"He had the courage to break with his party during the Iraq War, and would help bring the war in Afghanistan to an end while building the military we need for the future."

Obama, who returns to Washington on Sunday from vacation in Hawaii, would only need a handful of Republicans to achieve the 60 votes needed for Hagel's Senate confirmation, if all his own Democrats are on board.