In the session’s most controversial moment, Gates was questioned by incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin.

Sen. Carl Levin: “Mr. Gates, do you believe we are currently winning in Iraq?”

Robert Gates: “No, sir.”

Gates later clarified his remarks and said the U.S. was neither winning nor losing the Iraq War. The hearing came on a day when more than 60 people were killed in shootings and car bomb attacks in Iraq. Gates’s nomination now goes to the full Senate for a confirmation vote as early as today. He is widely expected to win approval.