WASHINGTON — The Senate, with a scant amount of days left this session and a busy agenda, will leave the nomination of a new defense secretary to the next Congress, according to a senior Senate source.
"It's logistically impossible to do this during the lame duck," a senior Senate aide told Defense News on Monday, just hours after the White House confirmed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is resigning.
A senior Obama administration official said earlier Monday that the White House intends to name a replacement "in short order."
Sources and media reports immediately pointed to two Obama administration veterans as the leading candidates to replace Hagel, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy and former Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
But even if the White House named a nominee on Monday, it would be a tall order for the lame duck Senate to complete the detailed work of carefully reviewing the individual's record and background, set up meetings with senators, hold hearings and then move the nomination on the Senate floor.
There are only 38 days remaining in the year, and just 25 potential legislative days during which the upper chamber could be in session.
But members expect to leave by Dec. 12, the day after government funding is set to expire. And the chamber is on recess this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, not set to return until late next Monday.
That leaves just 10 possible legislative days for senators to review staffers' vetting, meet with the nominee, hold a confirmation hearing and then hold a floor debate and vote.
The Senate, however, has worked few Fridays under outgoing Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., more likely leaving just eight in-session days.
And during those days, the chamber must move a coming version of the fiscal 2015 Pentagon policy bill being negotiated between Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. It also must vote on a measure to keep the government running.
The defense bill is expected to take up much of the week of Dec. 1 on the floor, and the spending bill the following week. Reid also wants to move more Obama administration nominations already approved by Senate panels.
