CONCESSION

McCain: Hagel ‘Probably’ Has the Votes

To be confirmed as Secretary of Defense.

Will they be BFF again? John McCain conceded on Sunday that his former colleague Chuck Hagel “probably” has enough votes to be confirmed as secretary of Defense—and he insisted the Republican filibuster is “reasonable” to go over Hagel’s records. Republicans in the Senate voted last week to block the former Nebraska senator’s nomination, but McCain insisted on Meet the Press that the filibuster is the result of “the positions Senator Hagel has taken” rather than personal. The Obama administration has complained the long confirmation process—which has consumed Congress for the past few weeks—for a Defense secretary is unprecedented—and it is coming at an especially unhelpful time, as automatic defense cuts known as the “sequester” loom.