Senate panel postpones vote on Hagel nomination

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, had hoped to vote on the nomination on Thursday during a separate hearing on Libya, but Levin issued a statement late Wednesday saying no vote would occur this week.

"The committee's review of the nomination is not yet complete. I intend to schedule a vote on the nomination as soon as possible," Levin said.

Hours earlier, committee Republicans said they were dissatisfied with information Hagel had provided the panel after his confirmation hearing last week, and no vote should occur. They focused on his speeches and affiliations with organizations such as the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan public interest group.

Hagel, a former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska, has faced strong opposition from his ex-GOP colleagues who have questioned his past statements and votes on Israel, Iran and nuclear weapons. It was unclear whether the delay in the vote would derail the nomination or merely postpone action on Obama's choice to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

In a letter to Hagel, Republicans complained that he failed to answer several questions, including details on all compensation of more than $5,000 that he had received over the past five years. They also had pressed him on his recent speeches, the groups he has addressed and their donors.

"The committee, and the American people, have a right to know if a nominee for secretary of defense has received compensation, directly or indirectly, from foreign sources," Senate Republicans wrote. "Until the committee receives full and complete answers, it cannot in good faith determine whether you should be confirmed as secretary of defense."

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter, which was signed by more than two dozen Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Freshman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who opposes Hagel's nomination, had complained to his colleagues about the information the nominee provided during a closed meeting on Tuesday. Other Republicans raised objections to a vote.