WASHINGTON, Jan 7: US President Barack Obama nominated two controversial officials for his second-term national security team on Monday, even as lawmakers made it known that they would resist their confirmation.

Both Chuck Hagel and John Brennan need to be confirmed by the Senate before they can take over their new positions as secretary of defence and the CIA chief.

Mr Hagel is a former Republican senator and will replace Defence Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon. Mr Brennan is the White House counter-terrorism adviser and replaces Gen. David Petreaus who had to step down as the CIA director over an extramarital affair.

Many in the Republican Party dislike Mr Hagel for opposing the Iraq war, for seeking negotiations with Iran and for urging Israel to engage Hamas. Mr Hagel, a 66-year-old moderate Republican from Nebraska, also opposes a US or Israeli military strike against Iran.

Mr Brennan has been deeply involved in the Obama administration’s aggressive use of drones to kill suspected terrorists in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. And is opposed by human rights groups for supporting the Bush administration’s tough interrogation techniques against terror suspects.

Even as President Obama announced Mr Hagel’s nomination at the White House, some Republican senators advised him to “do more than apologise” to the American public for saying in the recent past that there’s a Jewish lobby in America.

“To suggest that there is a Jewish lobby is not only inaccurate, it is highly offensive to the American Jewish community,” a congressional newspaper, The Hill, noted on Monday.

“Nominating Mr Hagel sends the worst possible message to Israel and other US allies in the Middle East,” said Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas.

Newly-elected Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News that “it is very difficult to imagine the circumstance in which I could support his confirmation”.

But President Obama ignored the critics, telling his guests at the White House nomination ceremony that “Chuck Hagel is the leader that our troops deserve. He is an American patriot.”

Senator Hagel is a Vietnam combat veteran, and President Obama noted that he would be the first Vietnam veteran to lead the Defence Department if confirmed.

And a key Democrat in the Senate, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, supported the nomination, calling Mr Hagel a “strong advocate for the men and women of our military”.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, however, said he was reserving judgment.

Former Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain said he had “serious concerns” about Senator Hagel’s stance on some critical national security issues , “which we will fully consider in the course of his confirmation process before the Senate Armed Services Committee”.

Commenting on President Obama’s choice for the CIA, the US media noted that he was considered for the director’s position during Obama’s first term.