Friday takeaways - Republicans delay Hagel confirmation - Service chiefs in the dark on troop levels - Marines reach for their naval roots - Panetta leaves for California

FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS:

1. Hagel?s on his way to confirmation. In a close vote, Republicans succeeded in delaying Chuck Hagel?s confirmation by at least 12 days, giving them time to drum up opposition to the SecDef nominee and to continue pressing the White House for information about Benghazi. But key Republicans are signaling they?ll allow the nomination to move forward once the Senate returns from its Presidents Day recess.

?I will vote in favor of cloture on the day we get back, and I believe ? enough of my colleagues would do the same,? said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Added Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): ?After the break, we can have a cloture vote, and I feel pretty comfortable I?d vote to move on ? unless there?s some bombshell.? For its part, the White House is expressing confidence Hagel will ultimately prevail. ?Sen. Hagel is going to be confirmed,? said an administration official, ?if not tomorrow, then when the Senate returns from recess.?

POLITICO?s Tim Mak and Manu Raju bring us the latest: http://bit.ly/ZekKpQ.

And POLITICO?s Josh Gerstein and Glenn Thrush explain why President Barack Obama was dead-set on picking Hagel, despite the concerns of his advisers and Hill Democrats: http://politi.co/XCRHph

2. The GOP is divided over defense. It?s increasingly clear the Republican party no longer stands united in opposing all cuts to military spending ? a division that was on full display this week. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) embraced sequestration in his tea party rebuttal to the president?s State of the Union address. Meanwhile, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) urged the Pentagon to cut wasteful programs instead of ship deployments and readiness initiatives.

And even some of the strongest backers of increased military spending voiced frustration this week, saying military commanders waited too long to start unveiling detailed plans for carrying out sequestration. ?It would have been a lot easier for us to persuade Congress to act if we had the specificity months ago,? Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) told the service chiefs on yesterday. ?We heard over and over again when we asked you what the impact was, ?We are not doing the planning. We are not planning for chaos.??

3. A short-term sequester appears likely. With the ?meat ax? about to fall, Congress is heading into its weeklong Presidents Day recess still at odds over the budget. Senate Democrats are now pushing a $110 billion package that would raise new revenues and reduce planned defense spending by $27.5 billion (POLITICO?s David Rogers has the details: http://bit.ly/YiuL0q). But House Republicans are flatly refusing to consider any new revenues ? setting the stage for a showdown almost certain to drag on past March 1, when sequestration is scheduled to begin taking effect.

HAPPY FRIDAY. It?s been a year now since we took the reins of Morning Defense, and we?d like to snap a few salutes: Big thanks to our editors for the feedback, for answering our late-night ? and early morning ? emails and for putting out the occasional fire. Thanks to Hadas Gold for her invaluable assistance. Thanks to the web producers here at POLITICO who deliver Morning Defense to your inboxes ? and to our fellow reporters who bring us fresh content every day from inside the E-ring and on Capitol Hill.

Most of all, thanks to our readers. We?ve gotten to know many of you at the Pentagon, at industry events and in the halls of Congress. And we couldn?t do this without your daily emails and phone calls; the criticism and encouragement; the corrections, clarifications and praise; the news tips ? and even the news releases. Keep ?em coming.

Email us at awright@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter @morningdefense, @abwrig and @POLITICOPro.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: There will be no Morning D on Presidents Day. We?ll be back bright and early on Tuesday.

NOW, BACK TO THE NEWS:

PANETTA LEAVES FOR CALIFORNIA ? With Hagel?s confirmation delayed, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will remain in his post. ?Secretary Panetta will attend the NATO Ministerial in Brussels next week and will continue to carry out his duties as secretary of Defense,? Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement. For now, though, the 74-year-old is heading to his home in California, as he often does on weekends.

According to Foreign Policy?s Kevin Baron, Panetta and his wife, Sylvia, ?vacated his Pentagon office? yesterday, ?smiling, shaking hands, waving goodbye and hugging top Defense Department officials lining the grand staircase leading to the front door.? http://atfp.co/Ze2blz

TRIVIA TIME ? Panetta got his start in politics as a legislative assistant for which former Republican senator from California? For the answer, read on.

** A message from Bipartisan supporters of Chuck Hagel: Chuck Hagel is the right choice to lead the Department of Defense. 13 former secretaries of Defense and State, more than 50 former ambassadors, major veterans organizations, and national security leaders spanning four bipartisan administrations all endorse Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. http://bit.ly/VJvUfH **

HAPPENING TODAY: ODIERNO TO SPEAK AT BROOKINGS ? Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno is speaking at the Brookings Institute at 11 a.m. The topic is the future of the Army, but our guess is Odierno will also spend some time discussing the immediate impacts of sequestration and an extended continuing resolution. ?We simply cannot take the readiness of our force for granted,? he told SASC this week. ?If we do not have the resources to train and equip the force, our soldiers, our young men and women, are the ones who will pay the price, potentially with their lives.?

SERVICE CHIEFS IN THE DARK ON TROOP EXIT, via POLITICO?s Kate Brannen ? ?The military service chiefs were in the dark about President Barack Obama?s decision to withdraw 34,000 troops from Afghanistan until the day he announced it, a defense official said Thursday. Although the White House had leaked that detail early Tuesday, ?I don?t think any of the chiefs knew that number,? the official said, adding that it had not come up during any of their meetings or discussions before then.? http://politi.co/15fQ4Fk

WHAT PROS ARE READING:

? MARINES REACH FOR THEIR NAVAL ROOTS, via Brannen: ?Jockeying for resources, the Marines are looking to align themselves more closely with the Navy ? the service many believe could be the big winner during cuts in defense spending.? http://politico.pro/XcSqOH

CISPA GETS ANOTHER GO, AS DO ITS CRITICS, via POLITICO?s Tony Romm: ?The authors of the so-called Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act revived their measure this week with the insistence that it won?t result in a Web user?s private data landing in the hands of the feds. But there?s still a sense among some lawmakers and consumer groups that the bill lacks strong, proper legal checks.? http://politi.co/XCSgzg

THE BIG IDEA: ?At Pentagon, ?pivot to Asia? becomes ?shift to Africa,?? by WaPo?s Craig Whitlock ? ?In his first term, President Obama instructed the Pentagon to pivot its forces and reorient its strategy toward fast-growing Asia. Instead, the U.S. military finds itself drawn into a string of messy wars in another, much poorer part of the world: Africa. Over the past two years, the Pentagon has become embroiled in conflicts in Libya, Somalia, Mali and central Africa. Meantime, the Air Force is setting up a fourth African drone base, while Navy warships are increasing their missions along the coastlines of East and West Africa.? http://wapo.st/X9KPlK

THE BIG READ: ?The most expensive weapon ever built,? by Time magazine?s Mark Thompson ? ?The F-35, designed as the U.S. military?s lethal hunter for 21st century skies, has become the hunted, a poster child for Pentagon profligacy in a new era of tightening budgets. Instead of the stars and stripes of the U.S. Air Force emblazoned on its fuselage, it might as well have a bull?s-eye. Its pilots? helmets are plagued with problems, it hasn?t yet dropped or fired weapons, and the software it requires to go to war remains on the drawing board.? http://ti.me/Z0G4et

MD SCOOP: COLLINS, TURNER, TSONGAS PRESS COAST GUARD OVER SEXUAL ASSAULT RULE ? Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Reps. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) wrote a letter voicing their concern that the Coast Guard hasn?t followed the military services in adopting rules (required under the NDAA) that would allow victims of sexual assault to quickly transfer away from the geographic locations of their alleged attackers.

?While we understand the Coast Guard is not under the authority of the Department of Defense absent a formal declaration of war, the spirit and intent of this law are to eliminate impediments to preventing sexual assault and provide for the protection of sexual violence victims throughout our nation?s Armed Services, including the Coast Guard,? the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp Jr.

MONEY TRAIL: GENERAL ATOMICS FILES MONTHLY FEC REPORT ? The PAC for the California-based defense contractor had $59,333 in the bank as of Jan. 31 and made just two campaign contributions during the first month of the year, both to home-state lawmakers. The company contributed $2,500 to Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and $5,000 to the 21st Century PAC, which is affiliated with HASC Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.).

TRIVIA ANSWER ? Panetta got his start in politics as a legislative assistant for former Republican Sen. Thomas H. Kuchel, who served as minority whip in the Senate during the 1960s.

THAT?S ALL FOR US. Have a great weekend.

** A message from Bipartisan supporters of Chuck Hagel: Chuck Hagel is the right choice to lead the Department of Defense. 13 former secretaries of Defense and State, more than 50 former ambassadors, major veterans organizations, and national security leaders spanning four bipartisan administrations all endorse Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense.

Here is what 13 of these distinguished national security leaders wrote in their endorsement:

"We, as former Secretaries of State, Defense and National Security Advisors, are writing to express our strong endorsement of Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense. Chuck Hagel has an impeccable record of public service that reflects leadership, integrity, and a keen reading of global dynamics."

Click here to find out what the others are saying: http://bit.ly/VJvUfH **

Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=c1970234ed30170f4bb5d5399d27a847

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