President Obama nominates former Sen. Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense

President Obama has officially nominated former Sen. Chuck Hagel to replace outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

Ironically, there are already opponents to the nomination from both the right and left sides of the political spectrum.

From the L.A. Times: "Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina predicted that Hagel would be “the most antagonistic secretary of Defense toward the state of Israel in our nation’s history” and called his pick by President Obama an “in-your-face nomination.” And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, while promising that Hagel would get a “fair hearing,” said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would get “tough questions” in a confirmation process."

The Log Cabin Republicans have taken out their second full-page ad, this time in the Washington Post, attacking Hagel on his gay rights record. The ad also addresses Hagel's recent apology for anti-gay remarks, calling it "too little, too late."  See the first one, from the NYT, here.

Army veteran and OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson issued the following statement today:

“Senator Hagel is an exceptionally qualified nominee for Secretary of Defense and we believe, if confirmed, he will be an effective leader for the Pentagon. Significant challenges remain for LGBT service members and their families, however, and it’s long overdue that our Secretary address those challenges.

"Our message to the next Secretary of Defense would be the same, no matter who was nominated and confirmed. A commitment to support LGBT service members and their families must be a commitment to action. It’s past time to extend all benefits available to married same-sex military couples and families while the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is still on the books. It’s past time to put in place military equal opportunity and nondiscrimination protections so that all qualified Americans who wish to serve this nation in uniform may do so without fear of harassment or discrimination. We look forward in the weeks ahead to discussing these and other issues important to LGBT service members and their families with Senator Hagel and his designees, and to working with him should he be confirmed to create equitable conditions for all those who serve our nation so bravely in uniform.”