“It confirms what we had already seen based on some of our internal reviews; there was just some sloppiness, not intentional, in terms of how we secure embassies in areas where you essentially don’t have governments that have a lot of capacity to protect those embassies,” Mr. Obama said.

Four State Department officials were removed from their posts this month after the five-member panel led by a former ambassador, Thomas R. Pickering, criticized the “grossly inadequate” security at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi that was attacked on Sept. 11, leading to the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has been one of the fiercest critics of the administration’s handling of the Benghazi attack, said on Sunday that the Senate should delay confirmation hearings on Mr. Obama’s choice to be his next secretary of state, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, until Mrs. Clinton fulfills her promise to testify to Congress.

“I want to know from the secretary of state’s point of view, ‘Were you informed of the deteriorating security situation?’ ” Mr. Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.” “ ‘Were all these cables coming out of Benghazi? Did they ever get up to your level? And if they didn’t, that’s a problem. If they did, why didn’t you act differently?’ I think it’s very important to know how the intelligence coming from Libya, how it was received in the State Department, so we can learn and correct any mistakes.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who is chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, also said on the same program that it was important to hear from Mrs. Clinton.