Chuck Hagel Is Out at the Pentagon

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/11/chuck-hagel-is-out-at-the-pentagon/383099/

President Obama will announce the Secretary of Defense's resignation at 11:00 a.m. on Monday.

DASHIELL BENNETT, NOV 24 2014

Robert Burns/AP

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will resign on Monday after just under two years on the job. According to a report by Helene Cooper at The New York Times, President Obama decided to remove Hagel after coming to the conclusion over the last several weeks that the current Defense chief was not the right person to lead the fight against ISIS.

The president's schedule has been changed and an announcement is now scheduled at the White House for 11:10 a.m. Eastern.

The implication from Hagel's critics was that he was brought in, in 2013 to lead the military drawdown in Afghanistan and manage a shrinking bureaucracy, but that the rise of this new threat in the Middle East will require a new direction at the Pentagon.

Other critics reportedly questioned in overall leadership of the department, saying he "struggled to inspire confidence" and "had problems articulating his thoughts — or administration policy — in an effective manner."

His resignation is being portrayed as a mutual decision and that Hagel is not being fired. He will remain at his post until a new secretary is nominated and confirmed, which is unlikely to happen before the new Congress convenes next year.

Hagel, a former Republican Senator who served with the president on the same Foreign Relations Committee when they were both in Congress, was appointed to the post in February 2013 and expected to serve out the remained of the Obama administration.

This is a developing story and we'll continue to update this post.