The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to advance Chuck Hagel’s defense secretary nomination to a full Senate vote. The vote was held along party lines, with Senator Carl Levin among the Democrats backing Hagel and Senator Lindsey Graham among the Republicans opposed.

Sen. Carl Levin: “If there is a risk here, it is that the defeat of this nomination will leave the Department of Defense leaderless at a time when we face immense budgetary challenges and our military is engaged in combat operations overseas. Such an absence of senior leadership would be unlikely to benefit either our national defense or our men and women in uniform.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham: “The next secretary of defense is going to have to deal with a world on fire, and I just believe that the testimony of Senator Hagel was not reassuring. I don’t think he did come across clear and convincing that he understood our policies toward Iran.”