NE-Sen: Hagel To Announce Retirement Monday

By: Dave Sund

Don Walton confirms it:

Sen. Chuck Hagel will announce Monday he'll not seek re-election next year.

 

Hagel also will tell an Omaha news conference he does not intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008, clamping a lid on speculation he might be pondering a late-inning presidential bid.

 

In a prelude to Monday's announcement, he conferred Friday with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

 

Later, Hagel gathered his Washington staff together to inform them of his decision, according to sources close to the senator.

 

Hagel's departure at the end of 2008 will bring an end to a meteoric 12-year Senate ride that propelled him to national prominence as the most outspoken Republican opponent of President Bush's Iraq war policies.