 The efforts of him and others against a Rice nomination proved effective; in mid-December, she withdrew her name from consideration, and Obama then nominated McCain's colleague and friend, Senator John Kerry, for the position instead.In early 2013, McCain engaged in tough questioning of former friend and colleague Chuck Hagel's nomination to be U.S. Secretary of Defense, telling the nominee he had been on the wrong side of history for opposing the Iraq surge.In the end, McCain voted against Hagel's confirmation, but before that opposed a filibuster against the nomination, thus clearing the way for Hagel to be confirmed by a 58–41 vote.