Cornyn: Hagel vote could be ‘expedited’ if nominee turns over financial records

A floor vote on former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s (R-Neb.)
confirmation could be “expedited” if Hagel turns over the financial documents
that some Republicans are requesting, Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn
(R-Texas) told The Hill.

Cornyn said Wednesday that he believed at least one
Republican colleague would object to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
proceeding to a vote on Hagel without the requests being met.

{mosads}That would force a cloture vote requiring a 60-vote
threshold before proceeding to confirm Hagel as Defense secretary.

“I think there’s still a desire to get responses to the
legitimate questions that have been asked, and so far that hasn’t been complied
with,” Cornyn said. “This could all be expedited if they would just respond to
the reasonable questions being asked of them.”

Some Republican lawmakers say Hagel has failed to disclose funding sources for money he received and have questioned whether he received compensation for speeches to “extreme or radical groups.”

Reid said this week that
he wants to hold a vote on Hagel Wednesday or Thursday, and that he would reject
all Republican holds, an informal method that
senators can use to object to proceeding on a nomination.

If Reid is forced to file cloture, the vote to end debate
might not come until Friday.

As other Republicans have done, Cornyn stopped short of
saying Republicans would filibuster Hagel’s nomination, even if they force a
cloture vote with a 60-vote threshold.

“When you deny cloture, that doesn’t mean that the
nomination is doomed. It just means the debate will continue and there will be
more time given to negotiate,” said Cornyn, who was one of the first to oppose
Hagel’s nomination.

Senate Armed Services ranking member Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.)
has said this week that he will require a 60-vote threshold for Hagel.

“Not force a filibuster, force a 60-vote threshold,” Inhofe said Tuesday. “It’s
a different thing altogether.”

Cornyn would not say whether he thought Republicans could
get 41 votes to prevent a final confirmation vote.

“I’m not going to speculate about that move, but we’ll see,”
Cornyn said.

There would likely be enough votes to defeat a GOP filibuster, as no Democrats are opposed to Hagel’s confirmation and numerous Republican
senators have said they are against a filibuster, including Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.).

McCain believes that Hagel has
fulfilled the committee’s disclosure requirements, according to a Senate aide. But McCain also said at
Tuesday’s committee vote that he was opposed to proceeding with the nomination
until the questions that he and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte
(R-N.H.) have asked President Obama about the attack in Benghazi are answered.

The aide said that McCain fully expects to have an answer
before any vote.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) rejected
multiple Republican requests on Tuesday to delay a committee vote over the
requested Hagel financial information.

“We’re not going to single out one nominee for this kind of
disparate treatment,” Levin said.

Hagel’s nomination was approved by the committee on a
party-line 14-11 vote after a fiery hearing.