Barack Obama

Pentagon Knocks Down Report That Petraeus Is Out

Susan Crabtree | February 15, 2011, 7:41PM

General David Petraeus

The Pentagon is knocking down reports that David Petraeus is expected to immediately leave his post as commander of United States troops in Afghanistan while also noting that he would not stay forever.

Earlier Tuesday evening the Times of London reported that Petraeus would leave and the headline appeared to suggest that his departure was imminent.

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Robert Gates

Gates On Tighter Media Access Rules For Military: It's Not You, It's Us

Eric Lach | July 8, 2010, 3:29PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

At a press conference announcing his recommendation of Gen. Jim Mattis to lead U.S. Central Command today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates addressed the memo he recently issued regarding the military's interactions with the media.

The memo, issued last Friday, requires top level military personnel to notify the public affairs office before interviews "with possible national or international implications." It was issued in the wake of a Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, in which the general and his aides publicly trashed members of the Obama administration. McChrystal has since been relieved of his command.

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Michael Steele

Top Republicans Pile On Steele, Call For His Ouster

Brian Beutler | July 2, 2010, 12:38PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Republicans are furious with RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who was caught on camera saying that the war in Afghanistan is a doomed effort launched by President Obama. Steele has no shortage of enemies in the GOP and many of them sense an opportunity here. In fact, several, both privately and publicly, are saying this is the last straw: Steele should resign.

"Needless to say, the war in Afghanistan was not 'a war of Obama's choosing,'" reads an open letter to Steele from Weekly Standard editor and influential GOP voice Bill Kristol.

It has been prosecuted by the United States under Presidents Bush and Obama. Republicans have consistently supported the effort. Indeed, as the DNC Communications Director (of all people) has said, your statement "puts [you] at odds with about 100 percent of the Republican Party."

....There are, of course, those who think we should pull out of Afghanistan, and they're certainly entitled to make their case. But one of them shouldn't be the chairman of the Republican party.

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Michael Steele

FLASHBACK: Steele Called Afghanistan 'A War We Have To Win'

Brian Beutler | July 2, 2010, 12:30PM

RNC Chair Michael Steele

When he thinks nobody's watching, Michael Steele says "the one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan...everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed" and calls Afghanistan a war of President Obama's choosing. Yet just months ago, in his official capacity as RNC Chairman, Steele had a remarkably different take.

"Although this decision took far too long and it should not have, I am glad the president will finally provide General McChrystal with the troops he needs," Steele said in December in response to President Obama's decision to greenlight a surge in Afghanistan. "However, tonight's speech must be the beginning, not the end, of the case President Obama makes to the American people as to why this is, as he said during the campaign, 'a war we have to win.' If the president remains committed to this crucial fight, Republicans - and the American people - will stand with him. But sending mixed signals by outlining the exit before these troops even get on the ground undermines their ability to succeed."

Emphasis mine. Steele is in for a rocky ride. Many Republicans are furious at Steele, who was captured on video suggesting that Afghanistan is an unwinnable war. Indeed, this comment was passed my way by a top GOP operative. More on that shortly

Afghanistan

Steele Says We Shouldn't Be In Afghanistan; Calls It Obama's War Of Choice

Eric Kleefeld | July 2, 2010, 9:40AM

RNC Chair Michael Steele

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele may be misremembering exactly how and when the Afghanistan war began.

At a Republican Party fundraiser in Connecticut on Thursday, Steele declared that the war in Afghanistan "was a war of Obama's choosing" that America had not "actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in," in a response to an attendee's question about the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal -- which Steele called "very comical."

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Best Boss Ever? Michael Steele & The RNC Interns]

"The McChrystal incident, to me, was very comical. And I think it's a reflection of the frustration that a lot of our military leaders have with this Administration and their prosecution of the war in Afghanistan," said Steele. "Keep in mind again, federal candidates, this was a war of Obama's choosing. This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in."

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Afghanistan

McChrystal Tells Army He'll Retire

Ben Frumin | June 28, 2010, 5:42PM

General Stanley McChrystal

Now it looks like General Stanley McChrystal is really out. After being relieved of his command in Afghanistan last week by President Barack Obama, McChrystal has informed the army that he's retiring, the Associated Press reports.

Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins said McChrystal notified the service of his plans on Monday, but he has not yet submitted formal retirement papers. It is not clear when he will leave the service, but the process usually take a few months.

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2012 elections

Santorum Backs McChrystal, Says Obama Should 'Bear Some Of The Responsibility'

Eric Kleefeld | June 28, 2010, 12:10PM

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

At least one potential Republican presidential candidate is squarely taking Gen. Stanley McChrystal's side, saying that President Obama should not have sacked the general and should have instead taken responsibility for the insults coming from the general and his top aides.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) told the Quad-City Times in Iowa that McChrystal's comments did not merit replacing him. Santorum said that if he had been president in that situation, he would have felt "chastened" that his hand-picked general had said such things. "I would think, you know, I bear some of the responsibility and I would act differently," said Santorum.

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Stanley McChrystal

Poll: Americans Approve Of Obama's Decision To Remove McChrystal

Eric Lach | June 28, 2010, 11:35AM

President Obama and former Afghanistan top commander General Stanley McChrystal.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds that a majority of Americans support the President's decision to relieve Gen. Stanley McChrystal of his duty in Afghanistan.

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Stanley McChrystal

GOP Praise Petraeus, Continue Hammering Obama Afghanistan Policy

Brian Beutler | June 23, 2010, 4:11PM

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

You won't likely hear broad opposition from the GOP to President Obama's decision to replace General McChrystal with General Petraeus in Afghanistan. But they will continue to hammer the administration for having set a 2011 troop withdrawal date in that war, and criticize the civilian leadership in Afghanistan, particularly Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. In other words, McChrystal's expected firing, and all the coy warnings that came with it, will ultimately change little about the politics of the Afghanistan war on the Hill.

"We are confident that General Petraeus' leadership will have a very positive effect on the situation in the region," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said at a press conference this afternoon. "The hearing for General Petraeus' confirmation will probably be the fastest in the history of the Armed Services Committee."

McCain serves as ranking member of that committee. He appeared alongside Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to weigh in on Obama's decision, and to highlight continuing differences, including over the withdrawal date, and the civilian leadership in Afghanistan.

The senators even tiptoed toward suggesting that Eikenberry should go as well.

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Afghanistan

McChrystal: I Resigned Out Of 'Desire To See The Mission Succeed'

Rachel Slajda | June 23, 2010, 2:17PM

General Stanley McChrystal

Gen. Stanley McChrystal released a statement a few minutes after President Obama announced that he had accepted McChrystal's resignation and would appoint Gen. David Petraeus to lead the Afghanistan War.

"This morning the President accepted my resignation as Commander of U.S. and NATO Coalition Forces in Afghanistan," McChrystal wrote. "I strongly support the President's strategy in Afghanistan and am deeply committed to our coalition forces, our partner nations, and the Afghan people. It was out of respect for this commitment -- and a desire to see the mission succeed -- that I tendered my resignation."

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Stanley McChrystal

Obama Sacks McChrystal: 'The Right Thing' (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | June 23, 2010, 1:20PM

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Barack Obama

President Obama announced that Gen. Stanley McChrystal has been relieved from duty, a "difficult decision" reached in the aftermath of a Rolling Stone profile that ends his tenure as the top commander for the war Afghanistan.

"Today I accepted General McChrystal's resignation," Obama said in making public the decision this afternoon in the Rose Garden. MSNBC broke the news, also reporting that the president has selected Gen. David Petraeus to take over in Afghanistan. Petraeus, who led the mission in Iraq, stood at Obama's side. "It is the right decision for our national security," Obama said.

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Stanley McChrystal

30 Minutes In The Oval: Obama And McChrystal Hash It Out

Christina Bellantoni | June 23, 2010, 10:30AM

President Barack Obama and General Stanley McChrystal

President Obama has finished his one-on-one with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and he's likely to tell the world from the Rose Garden whether he still has faith in the top commander in Afghanistan to finish out the job. It's not looking good, since McChrystal has already left the White House.

Administration officials say Obama wanted to give the imperiled general a chance to defend himself in person, going into the meeting with an open mind. At 9:51 a.m., Obama and McChrystal sat down privately in the Oval Office. By 10:21 a.m., the meeting was over. White House aides wouldn't say whether Obama would make a statement before his regularly scheduled Situation Room meeting to discuss Afghanistan and Pakistan.

McChrystal was summoned to Washington after Rolling Stone published a detailed -- and unflattering -- profile in which he and his team mocked Obama and White House officials. ABC's Jake Tapper reported today that while phoning top officials to apologize, McChrystal told them he had "compromised the mission."

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Stanley McChrystal

Whew! TPM's List Of Folks Breathing Sighs Of Relief Thanks To Gen. McChrystal

Christina Bellantoni | June 23, 2010, 10:13AM

(Clockwise from top left) Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), BP CEO Tony Hayward, a Taliban fighter, Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R-NV)

Gen. Stanley McChrystal isn't the only person who was worried about losing his rank this week. But thanks to an explosive Rolling Stone profile that changed the political conversation in Washington, McChrystal is likely to be the only one who actually does.

TPM put together a list of the people who just might be thankful for the McChrystal mess, even if they only have a brief reprieve from their own nasty headlines.

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Stanley McChrystal

McChrystal Denies Offering Resignation

Rachel Slajda | June 23, 2010, 9:17AM

General Stanley McChrystal

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, walking into the Pentagon this morning for a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, denied reports that he's already offered to resign his post as general in charge of the Afghanistan War.

"Come on, you know better than that. No!" he told an NBC News reporter.

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Afghanistan

How A Rolling Stone Profile Wrecked Stanley McChrystal's Reputation

Justin Elliott | June 22, 2010, 5:30PM

General Stanley McChrystal

It's not every day that a magazine article takes down a four-star general.

The country woke this morning to the news of a profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal in Rolling Stone with quote after quote of the general and his aides dissing top Obama Administration officials, as well as the president himself. After a day-long media freak-out, McChrystal is set to meet with the president at the White House tomorrow with Robert Gibbs having pointedly left the door open to the general losing his job. All this comes at a time when the Afghan war is not going particularly well.

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Joe Sestak

Sestak: Let's Not Rush To Judgment On McChrystal's Comments To Rolling Stone (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 22, 2010, 4:09PM

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA)

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), the highest-ranking military officer to serve in Congress, said this morning the now-infamous Rolling Stone article about General Stanley McChrystal violates military code, but he refused this afternoon to get on board with a call from Rep. David Obey (D-WI) that McChrystal resign.

"We are taught in the military that if you don't agree with what your commander, or you have certain comments about your commander with regard to what you think, you say that behind closed doors. Once you open up that door and go outside, it is a political official who is over you. It is civilian control and so he made a mistake," Sestak told a Philadelphia Fox affiliate this morning. When asked by host of the show, Sestak said that McChrystal's participation in the article violated military code. But he also praised McChrystal, calling him an "excellent commander," and said that from what he knows of the scandal it doesn't seem to rise to the level of dismissing the general.

"It's not yet, I think, on the extreme to where you take it to the next step," Sestak said. "Does he need to be corrected? Absolutely."

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Stanley McChrystal

How McChrystal And Co. Blew The Rolling Stone Profile

Justin Elliott | June 22, 2010, 3:34PM

A general, his aides, and one reporter, stuck on a bus from Paris to Berlin, and drinking case after case of Bud Light Lime ...

That's the movie trailer version of how Gen. Stanley McChrystal ended up with a trainwreck of a profile in Rolling Stone, in which he and his aides ended up on the record trashing President Obama and virtually every other important civilian decision-maker on the Afghan war.

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Mitch McConnell

McConnell: McChrystal Controversy A 'Diversion' From Afghanistan Mission

Brian Beutler | June 22, 2010, 3:00PM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Looks like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to tie President Obama's hands.

At his weekly press conference this afternoon, McConnell suggested that the row over General McChrystal's comments in Rolling Stone were a 'diversion' from the ultimate goal of winning the war in Afghanistan.

"It seems to me it's important to remember that we've got a conflict going on in Afghanistan, a challenging conflict, which has enjoyed bipartisan support, unlike the war in Iraq," McConnell said. "And I hope we can keep our eye on the ball here, and win in Afghanistan and not get diverted off of that on to these other issues that seem to have developed."

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Stanley McChrystal

Conservative Republicans Walk Fine Line On McChrystal Controversy

Brian Beutler | June 22, 2010, 1:46PM

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

In response to General McChrystal's seemingly insubordinate comments about President Obama, Vice President Biden and others, conservatives on the Hill are flirting with the idea of...getting McChrystal's back. While almost no elected officials, save retiring Rep. David Obey (D-WI) are actively calling for McChrystal's resignation, members of the GOP's right flank are walking right up to the line of defending him.

"The thing that's regrettable is that the whole thing with the magazine was released, because here's a guy who's undoubtedly the most qualified person to take on all these difficult things over in Afghanistan," Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) told reporters this afternoon. "It's regrettable that it all happened through Rolling Stone, I think that's the main problem there, and I still can't figure out how that happened."

"I know him, I've been with him in the field, there's no one as qualified as he is to run the show in Afghanistan," Inhofe added.

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David Obey

Top Dem Rep Wants 'Reckless, Renegade' McChrystal To Resign

Justin Elliott | June 22, 2010, 1:18PM

Rep. David Obey (D-WI)

Rep. Dave Obey (D-WI), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, just released this statement calling on Gen. Stanley McChrystal to resign in the harshest terms, and calling him the latest in "a long list of reckless, renegade generals."

After referencing a speech McChrystal gave in London last year in which the general made strong statements about his policy preferences, Obey says:

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Stanley McChrystal

Gibbs On McChrystal's Job Security: 'Wait And See'

Christina Bellantoni | June 22, 2010, 1:07PM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs would not say if Gen. Stanley McChrystal will keep his job following the Rolling Stone profile portraying the top commander in Afghanistan as mocking President Obama and top administration officials.

A reporter asked, "Is McChrystal's job safe?" Gibbs answer was brief, and he repeated it multiple times: "We'll have more to say after that meeting." He later said people should "wait and see" the outcome of tomorrow's meeting. It was an already scheduled update on Afghanistan and Pakistan, but Obama summoned McChrystal to Washington to hear his explanation.

The president and McChrystal have not spoken, Gibbs said. "The president is anxious to talk to him."

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Stanley McChrystal

Gates: 'McChrystal Made A Significant Mistake'

Justin Elliott | June 22, 2010, 12:09PM

Sec. of Defense Robert Gates

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in a statement this morning that Gen. Stanley McChrystal "made a significant mistake and exercised poor judgment" for his comments in a Rolling Stone profile.

"Gen. McChrystal has apologized to me and is similarly reaching out to others named in this article to apologize to them as well," Gates said. "I have recalled Gen. McChrystal to Washington to discuss this in person."

Here's the full statement:

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Stanley McChrystal

Rolling Stone Editor Explains Fact-Checking Of McChrystal Profile

Justin Elliott | June 22, 2010, 11:54AM

Rolling Stone magazine article on General Stanley McChrystal

Rolling Stone Managing Editor Will Dana told TPM in an interview this morning that the fact-checking process for the magazine's profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal went extremely smoothly and the magazine has "utter confidence and faith in the reporting."

Dana said that, contra a report in Politico, neither McChrystal nor anyone else was shown the article before it ran.

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Stanley McChrystal

Hoyer On McChrystal: It's Obama's Call

Christina Bellantoni | June 22, 2010, 11:53AM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today dodged questions from reporters about whether Gen. Stanley McChrystal should be fired in light of a new Rolling Stone profile. "The person that needs to have faith in McChrystal is the commander in chief, the president of the United States," Hoyer said.

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Stanley McChrystal

Rolling Stone Editor: McChrystal Camp Didn't Take Issue With Our Story (VIDEO)

Ben Frumin | June 22, 2010, 11:43AM

General Stanley McChrystal

General Stanley McChrystal did not push back or take issue with a Rolling Stone article in which the general's top aides ripped the Obama Administration, the magazine's editor said this morning. McChrystal has reportedly been summoned to the White House to explain himself.

"They knew when we were on the record," Rolling Stone executive editor Eric Bates said on MSNBC this morning.

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Afghanistan

Majority Of Jabs In McChrystal Profile Came From Aides

Justin Elliott | June 22, 2010, 10:10AM

General Stanley McChrystal

One interesting thing about the Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal that has Washington in a tizzy today is that virtually all of the jabs at President Obama and other Administration officials came not from McChrystal himself, but from unnamed aides to the general.

Now, these are presumably experienced people who know how the media works, and it is clear that, at a minimum, McChrystal encouraged an environment in which such comments insulting to the chain of command were tolerated.

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Afghanistan

Summoned To Situation Room: McChrystal In Hot Water Over Rolling Stone Profile

Christina Bellantoni | June 22, 2010, 9:13AM

President Barack Obama and General Stanley McChrystal

Gen. Stanley McChrystal has some explaining to do. McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan held over from the Bush administration, has been summoned to the White House to apologize in person for some nasty remarks he and members of his staff made about Vice President Joe Biden and key members of President Obama's Cabinet.

McChrystal and his aides in the field mocked National Security Adviser Gen. Jim Jones, special envoy Richard Holbrooke and others. The brutal comments will be published in an upcoming edition of Rolling Stone. The article describes McChrystal as being "disappointed" by a meeting with Obama and said the president seemed "uncomfortable and intimidated" by military brass. (The Rolling Stone story, by freelance writer Michael Hastings, was posted here as a PDF, but was pulled after about 9:15 a.m. It comes out Friday.)

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Afghanistan

As Obama Decides About Afghanistan, Here's What We Know

Christina Bellantoni | October 7, 2009, 9:40AM

President Barack Obama and his war council

Eight years after the United States first sent troops to Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Obama is wrestling with the right strategy - pulled in one direction by military brass, wanting to win the war but cognizant of increasing casualties, and warned by antiwar liberals who fear a prolonged conflict like Vietnam to make sure he has an exit strategy.

There are 68,000 troops there already, thanks in part to the change in strategy Obama announced in March. He said then he wanted to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" al Qaeda and nearly doubled the troops deployed to the region as he started to implement a drawdown in Iraq. That was following up on a campaign promise since the president has said Afghanistan is the "war we need to win."

Sources interviewed about the president's thinking and strategy said Obama wants to make sure it's a deliberative process since there is so much on the line. They said it hasn't been easy signing letters to families of troops killed abroad and he wants to avoid mistakes made by the Bush administration.

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Nancy Pelosi

NRCC: McChrystal Should Put Pelosi 'In Her Place'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 6, 2009, 5:47PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

The GOP congressional campaign committee sent out a fundraising appeal today calling Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal to put Nancy Pelosi "in her place" over the war in Afghanistan.

The NRCC email accused Pelosi of "backpedaling" on support for the war "amidst increasing criticism from the radical left." Pelosi recently said liberal support for the troop increases McChrystal has advocated could be "difficult" to obtain.

NRCC communications director Ken Spain, quoted in the fundraising email: ""Nancy Pelosi continues to make party politics a higher priority than our national security. Rather than listening to a four-star general's assessments on Afghanistan, General Pelosi somehow believes she is better suited to craft our country's military policy."

"Taxpayers can only hope McChrystal is able to put her in her place," the email concludes.

Late Update: The NRCC defended the email throughout the day today. Greg Sargent posts this email from Spain:

"The Speaker of the House is taking on a highly decorated general who has outlined a strategy in Afghanistan that she once claimed to advocate. This is the same San Francisco liberal whose military foresight -- or lack thereof -- led her to oppose General Petraeus' successful surge strategy. Up until it became politically inconvenient, Pelosi and her puppets were referring to Afghanistan as the 'real central front' in the war on terror, now their excuse is that there is just not enough political will to keep America safe. Nancy Pelosi might think she's a general, but she's playing out of her league and she knows it."

Barack Obama

White House Playing Its Cards on Afghan Policy Review Very Close to the Vest

Christina Bellantoni | October 6, 2009, 1:17PM

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Barack Obama

Even close Obama aides say they don't know when the President will be making the decision about whether to accept the McChrystal troop surge recommendation, and are pushing back on reports suggesting it would be late October or early November.

Today's White House meeting with 30 members of Congress is designed to open the floor for questions, a White House aide said. Congressional leaders from both parties will be at the table in the State Dining Room, along with lawmakers who control the Pentagon's purse strings and defense, intelligence and foreign policy on the hill. They range on the ideological spectrum from progressive Reps. David Obey (D-WI) and Nita Lowey (D-NY) to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI).

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