UPDATED 12:54 PM EST, January 31, 2013
The odds should favor Senate confirmation of Chuck Hagel as President Barack Obama's next defense secretary despite strong Republican criticism at Thursday's Senate confirmation hearing.
For one thing, Senate rejections of Cabinet nominations are rare. It hasn't happened since March 1989, when President George H.W. Bush's nomination of former Sen. John Tower, R-Texas, for the top Pentagon job was killed 53-47. Tower faced allegations of private misconduct.
