It's time to chuck Hagel: Obama pressures Pentagon chief into stepping down
Pentagon chief resigns under pressure, paving way for first female defence secretary
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure from President Barack Obama's Cabinet, senior administration officials said, following a tenure in which he has struggled to break through the White House's insular foreign policy team.
Hagel is the first senior Obama adviser to leave the administration following the sweeping losses for Obama's party in the midterm elections. It comes as the president's national security team has been battered by multiple foreign policy crises, include the rise of Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
At a White House ceremony Obama said Hagel had been an "exemplary" defence secretary, adding: "Last month, Chuck came to me to discuss the final quarter of my presidency and determined that, having guided the department through this transition, it was an appropriate time for him to complete his service."
Obama and Hagel presented the decision as mutually agreed, but administration officials privately suggested he had been pushed out, while Obama's critics said Hagel had become frustrated.
Watch: US Defense Secretary Hagel tenders his resignation