(Newser)
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President Obama has settled on a nominee to succeed Leon Panetta at the Pentagon, and it is indeed Chuck Hagel, reports Mike Allen at Politico. “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," says a Dem insider, who praises Hagel as representing "the proud tradition of a strong, bipartisan foreign policy." The White House knows the controversial Republican will ignite debate. An announcement is expected tomorrow. So much for the nation's first female Defense chief.
