Rice telephoned Obama on Thursday morning, prior to sending him a letter officially withdrawing her name from consideration. The letter was crafted after the decision was made this week, administration officials said.
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Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her candidacy for secretary of state in a
letter to President Obama. Rice spoke with Brian Williams about her
decision to withdraw her name. (NBC News)
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The official also said that former Republican senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska has emerged as a “solid” candidate to run the Pentagon, though a final decision has not been made. For the CIA, the official said, Obama is deciding between acting director Michael J. Morell and deputy national security adviser John Brennan, who has yet to tell the president whether he would accept the job.
As Obama assembles his second-term national security team, with announcements due as early as next week, National Security Adviser Thomas E. Donilon, who has also been mentioned as a State Department possibility, is likely to remain in his current job, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations.
Officials insisted that Rice’s decision to stand down was made by her alone, and that the White House assessment was that she would have been confirmed as secretary of state despite insistence by some GOP Senators that they would oppose her and prevent her nomination from coming to a vote.
“The position of Secretary of State should never be politicized,” Rice wrote in her letter to Obama. “I am saddened that we have reached this point, even before you have decided whom to nominate. We cannot afford such an irresponsible distraction from the most pressing issues facing the American people.”
Rice’s withdrawal was a retreat by Obama, after he had repeatedly voiced support for her. In a statement issued by the White House, Obama described her as “an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant,” and called the attacks against her “unfair and misleading.”
But her removal from the scene is unlikely to end the controversy that led to it — the Sept. 11 extremist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that led to the death of four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador.
Criticism led by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has focused on what they called Rice’s intentionally misleading description, in television interviews days after the attack, of an anti-American demonstration that turned violent. The administration later revised that assessment, using what it said was updated intelligence information, to blame organized extremists.
Rice’s withdrawal, Graham said in a statement, “will not end questions about what happened in Benghazi.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to appear before House and Senate committees next week to discuss an independent State Department review of possible security lapses that is nearing completion.
