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Written by MK23_Sysop
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Monday, 03 March 2008 |
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Page 1 of 2  May 23 2006 - Cia Director Michael Hayden arrives At Capitol Hill
SOURCE Hayden Confirmed as CIA ChiefObjections to Role in Domestic Spying Fail to Derail Nomination
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 27, 2006; Page A02
Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, a career intelligence officer who has overseen some of the government's most secret and controversial surveillance programs, was confirmed by the Senate yesterday to head the CIA as it tries to regain some of its lost luster.
Senators voted 78 to 15 to confirm Hayden to succeed Porter J. Goss, who steps down today after 18 stormy months.
The Senate endorsed President Bush's view that Hayden is the right person to take the helm of an agency still rocked by intelligence failures that preceded the 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Bush first chose Goss, then a GOP House member from Florida, for the task. But the president lost confidence after Goss and his openly partisan aides clashed with veteran officials in the CIA and other agencies.
Hayden's nomination drew fire from some Democrats and civil liberties groups because he headed the National Security Agency when it began conducting warrantless wiretaps of Americans' international phone calls in a bid to find possible terrorists. Hayden and Bush, who acknowledged the program only after press reports outlined it, have said the effort is narrowly targeted at terrorism suspects.
But thousands of phone calls reportedly have been monitored without producing promising leads, and many lawmakers say Hayden and other officials have yet to explain adequately why they should not have to obtain court warrants for the wiretaps.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (Pa.), the only Republican to vote against confirmation, said he did so to protest "the administration's policy of not informing the Congress . . . in a way which enables the Congress and the Judiciary Committee to do our constitutional job on oversight." He called Hayden "a man with an outstanding record."
Specter joined 14 Democrats in opposing confirmation. Supporting it were 52 Republicans, 25 Democrats and one independent. The senators from Maryland and Virginia voted to confirm Hayden.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 March 2008 )
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