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| FILE - This June 7, 2012 file photo shows U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice listening during a news conference at the UN. Rice has withdrawn from consideration for secretary of state. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Susan Rice, the embattled U.N. ambassador, abruptly withdrew
from consideration to be the next secretary of state on Thursday after a
bitter, weekslong standoff with Republican senators who declared they
would fight to defeat her nomination.
The
reluctant announcement makes Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry the likely
choice to be the nation's next top diplomat when Hillary Rodham Clinton
departs soon. Rice withdrew when it became clear her political troubles
were not going away, and support inside the White House for her
potential nomination had been waning in recent days, administration
officials said.
In another major part of the
upcoming Cabinet shake-up for President Barack Obama's second term,
former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska now is seen as the
front-runner to be defense secretary, with official word expected as
soon as next week.
Obama had been weighing
whether a Rice nomination would be worth the fight. He accepted her
withdrawal with a shot at Republicans.
"While I
deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent
weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character," he
said.
If Obama taps Kerry for State, the
president will create a potential problem for Democrats by opening a
Senate seat - one that recently defeated Republican Sen. Scott Brown is
eyeing. Brown had been elected as Massachusetts' other senator in
January 2010 after Democrat Ted Kennedy died, stunning the political
world as he took the seat held by Kennedy for decades. Brown lost that
seat in the November election.
Rice had become
the face of the bungled administration account of what happened in
Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012 when four Americans, including the
U.S. ambassador to Libya, were killed in what is now known to have been a
terrorist attack.
Obama had defiantly
declared he would chose her for secretary of state regardless of the
political criticism, if he wanted, but such a choice could have depleted
him of capital and gotten his second term off to a turbulent start with
Capitol Hill. Already, Rice's withdrawal underscored Obama's difficulty
in pursuing his next agenda in a time of divided and divisive
government.
Rice withdrew her name in a letter to Obama - and in a media rollout aimed at upholding her reputation.
She
said she was convinced the confirmation process would be "lengthy,
disruptive and costly - to you and to our most pressing national and
international priorities."
In an interview with NBC News, she said her withdrawal "was the best thing for our country."
Rice
may end up close to Obama's side in another way, as his national
security adviser should Tom Donilon move on to another position, though
that is not expected imminently. The security adviser position would not
require Senate confirmation.
Obama made clear
she would remain in his inner circle, saying he was grateful she would
stay as "our ambassador at the United Nations and a key member of my
Cabinet and national security team." Rice, too, said in her letter she
would be staying.
The White House said Obama would meet with Rice Friday afternoon.
Rice
would have faced strong opposition from Senate Republicans who
challenged her much-maligned televised comments about the cause of the
deadly raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Her
efforts to satisfy Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte and
Susan Collins in unusual, private sessions on Capitol Hill fell short.
The Republicans emerged from the meetings still expressing doubts about
her qualifications.
"The position of secretary
of state should never be politicized," Rice said. "As someone who grew
up in an era of comparative bipartisanship and as a sitting U.S national
security official who has served in two U.S. administrations, I am
saddened that we have reached this point."
Support
has been trending away from Rice for the past few days, according to a
person familiar with the deliberations. That person spoke only on
condition of anonymity, not authorized to discuss the situation
publicly.
Attention now shifts to Kerry, who
came close to winning the presidency in 2004 and has been seen as
desiring the State job. In a statement, he made no mention of his own
candidacy but praised Rice, who was an adviser to him his in his
presidential bid.
Kerry was an early backer of
Obama and was under consideration to become his first secretary of
state. Obama has dispatched Kerry to foreign hot spots on his behalf.
Kerry played the role of Republican Mitt Romney during Obama's
presidential debate preparations this year.
The longtime senator would be almost certain to be easily confirmed by his colleagues on Capitol Hill.
Even
if Rice had been chosen and confirmed, a contentious Senate fight could
have sent her into the job with weakened support and used up some of
the tough votes Obama may need from allies in the Senate later.
House
Democratic women had cast the criticism of Rice as sexist and racist -
she is African-American - and some expressed disappointment with the
news.
"If judged fairly based solely on her
qualifications for the job, she would've made an extraordinary secretary
of state," said Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., a member of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rice did not have a
strong relationship with members of the Senate. Graham, who is the top
Republican on the Appropriations subcommittee that handles foreign aid
and the State Department, said he barely knew her.
In
a brief statement, a spokesman for McCain said the senator "thanks
Ambassador Rice for her service to the country and wishes her well. He
will continue to seek all the facts surrounding the attack on our
consulate in Benghazi."
Rice's decision comes
ahead of the anticipated release next week of a report by an
Accountability Review Board into the attack on the Benghazi mission. The
report ordered by Clinton, focuses on the run-up to and the actual
attack and is not expected to mention Rice's role in its aftermath.
Clinton is to testify about the report before Congress next Thursday.
At issue is the explanation Rice offered in a series of talk show appearances five days after the attack in Libya.
Rice
has conceded in private meetings with lawmakers that her initial
account - that a spontaneous demonstration over an anti-Muslim video
produced in the U.S. triggered the attack - was wrong, but she has
insisted she was not trying to mislead the American people. Information
for her account was provided by intelligence officials.
Obama
had been expected to announce his new national security team next week,
but that could be pushed back because of fiscal cliff negotiations. The
president may announce his nominees to lead the State and Defense
Departments, and perhaps the Central Intelligence Agency, at the same
time.
Hagel, a former Republican senator from
Nebraska, is a Vietnam veteran, served two terms in the Senate and was a
senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee. Obama and Hagel
became close while they served in the Senate and traveled overseas
together. Hagel has been critical of his party since leaving the Senate
in 2008, saying the GOP had moved too far right.
