WASHINGTON—The Senate agreed to end a delay on Chuck Hagel's nomination vote for defense secretary, all but guaranteeing he will win confirmation later Tuesday.
Mr. Hagel needed to win 60 votes on a procedural motion to end debate in order for his nomination to move forward. Seventy-one senators voted for the motion Tuesday and 27 voted against it. That paves a path for Mr. Hagel's nomination to move to a straight majority vote, a threshold he is expected to easily meet in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The vote is set for 4:30 p.m. EST.
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The vote to end the delay brings to a close an unusually contentious battle that some experts believe could leave Mr. Hagel in a weaker position to take up the mantle at a particularly challenging time for the Pentagon, which faces a series of deep budget cuts.
Mr. Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, ran afoul of some members of his own party who believe he isn't supportive enough of Israel and too weak on Iran. Republicans repeatedly pushed for delays on voting on his nomination and a handful of outside political groups with anonymous donors have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting to derail the process.
On Tuesday, 18 Republicans voted to proceed with Mr. Hagel's nomination.
Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas), who voted against the motion to proceed, was among the Republicans who continued to voice their opposition Tuesday. "We should not be installing a defense secretary who is obviously not qualified for the job and who holds dangerously misguided views," he said.
Mr. Hagel became the first defense secretary nominee in history required to garner 60 votes to win confirmation. Senate Republicans blocked a motion to allow Mr. Hagel's nomination to proceed more than a week ago, effectively filibustering the nominee.
Write to Sara Murray at sara.murray@wsj.com