Sen. Ted Cruz said Monday that he thinks former Sen. Joe Lieberman would be a good choice to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
Cruz, a Texas Republican who has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2016, said the former Connecticut Democratic senator should be considered for the job.
Lieberman ran for vice president with candidate Al Gore in the 2000 election. Lieberman has since become a registered independent.
"One strong option would be former Sen. Joe Lieberman, a member of the president's own party with deep experience and unshakable commitment to the security of the United States," Cruz
told Politico. "I urge the president to give him full and fair consideration for this critical position."
Lieberman served in the Senate starting in 1989 and retired after the 2012 election. He has stayed vocal about U.S. foreign policy issues since he left the Senate.
Hagel
announced his resignation on Monday in a White House press conference.
In June, Lieberman
slammed Obama's foreign policy during a speech.
"Some terrible things could happen . . . for us if [Obama] doesn't turn it around," Lieberman said. "If you wanted to get a sense of imagining without too much of the horrific about what the world would look like without active American leadership, look at the world today.
"It's not collapsing, but as my friend said, it seems to be going to hell."
In August, Lieberman said
Obama is sending a "mixed" message to Israel.
"I think the Israelis feel, and a lot of pro-Israel Americans feel, that the administration has not seemed to be totally with Israel — defending Israel's right to exist, and yet beginning to negotiate with Qatar and Turkey, who are open supporters of Hamas, which naturally infuriates the Israelis," Lieberman said. "It's more mixed with the Obama administration."
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