Politics | Chuck Hagel Obama Picks Chuck Hagel for Pentagon: Report Announcement expected tomorrow By Polly Davis Doig Posted Jan 6, 2013 8:05 AM CST Copied In this June 26, 2008 file photo, then Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., speaks on foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File) 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. Read These Next Felix Baumgartner's death attributed to his own error. You might want to take mass transit instead of driving in this city. Robin Williams' daughter: AI clips of him are 'disturbing' Trump and Putin appear in agreement on nuclear arms treaty. Report an error