(From left) Current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel and President Barack Obama at a new conference Monday at the White House to announce Hagel's nomination.
Maybe Hagel, maybe not.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
McConnell says time will tell whether Hagel wins his support. He said he expects his former colleague to face tough questions from Republicans.
"I am going to wait and see how the hearings go, and whether Chuck's views square" for the post, McConnell said on ABC Sunday.
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"He's certainly been outspoken in foreign policy and defense over the years," McConnell said, prior to the official announcement. "The question we will be answering, if he is the nominee, is do his views make sense for that particular job. I think he ought to be given a fair hearing, like any other nominee, and he will be."
But McConnell appeared to be part of the Hagel fan club in 2008 when the Nebraska senator announced his retirement.
"Chuck has earned the respect of his colleagues and risen to national prominence as a clear voice on foreign policy and national security," McConnell said in a farewell address. "Chuck's stature as a leading voice in foreign affairs has earned him a reputation, in just 12 years in the Senate, as one of Nebraska's great statesmen."
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer
The Jewish senator from New York has traditionally been a strong ally of the White House, but did not offer up his endorsement on NBC's Meet the Press when asked if he would support Hagel. Schumer is still on the fence.
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Independent Sen. Angus King
The freshman from Maine is keeping an open mind about Hagel, and said he won't make a decision on whether he will support Hagel's nomination until he has a chance to vet him.
"I start with the premise that the president should be able to appoint his own people," King said on NBC's Meet the Press. "I am going to want to ask some serious questions and hear from Senator Hagel on the issues. He is a guy with a distinguished record and I am going to listen to the answers."
Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp
This freshman is also waiting to hear what Hagel has to say before she gets behind him, but she's certainly impressed by his credentials.
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"Chuck Hagel is a tremendous patriot and statesman, served incredibly in Vietnam, served this country as a United States senator," Heitkamp, from North Dakota, said Sunday on ABC. "Let's hear what the senator has to say."
Team "Yay"gel
Former Rep. Barney Frank
The first voluntarily openly gay member of Congress and now aspiring Massachusetts interim-senator once bashed Hagel, calling him out for consistently voting against gay rights, and for Hagel's 1998 remarks he would not vote for an "openly aggressively gay man" for ambassador. Before he left office, Frank released a statement attacking Hagel as being "consistently against fairness for LBGT people."
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