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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: No quick approval of Hayden No quick approval of Hayden By Jonathan Allen President Bush’s nomination of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to head the Central Intelligence Agency drew mostly tepid responses on Capitol Hill yesterday, and prospects for a quick confirmation appear dim. Hayden is unlikely to get a vote on the Senate floor before Memorial Day, senior Republican aides said. Bush announced the nomination yesterday, after the abrupt resignation Friday of Porter Goss, the former Florida GOP congressman who has led the CIA since late 2004. While a number of senators voiced concerns yesterday, few took a definitive stance and the nomination did not appear to be in jeopardy. “I’m willing to wait and see,” said Robert Bennett (R-Utah). Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said, “He’s run one of the most important programs in the war on terror, a key effort to try and make America safer. I look forward to his prompt confirmation by the Senate.” The Senate Armed Services Committee may also hold hearings on Hayden because the panel has jurisdiction over his reappointment as a four-star general, which Bush sent to the Hill yesterday with the CIA nomination. Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) is discussing with other panel members whether to move ahead with hearings, according to his spokesman. The White House, perhaps stung by previous setbacks on Capitol Hill, launched a full blitz in support of its nominee. “He’s the right man to lead the CIA at this critical moment in our nation’s history,” Bush said. White House officials have begun the process of setting up meetings for Hayden with key lawmakers. The president’s choice of a military officer to run the spy agency raised red flags with many senators, and others objected to the nomination because of Hayden’s involvement in the administration’s domestic surveillance program. “During these transformational times for both the CIA and our intelligence community, there are fundamental issues that will be the focus of General Hayden’s nomination, including maintaining the CIA’s vital independence from the Defense Department, which strenuously resisted the reorganization of our intelligence apparatus and which continues to control almost 80 percent of our nation’s intelligence budget,” said Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a centrist and potential swing vote on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a member of the Intelligence Committee, offered high praise for Hayden. “While I will wait until after the hearing to announce how I intend to vote, I believe that he is one of very few people in a very limited universe who could step in at this point of time and do what is necessary to get the CIA’s house in order,” Feinstein said. Congress’s enactment of an intelligence overhaul in 2004 appears to have done little to quell bureaucratic turf wars within and between the nation’s intelligence agencies. Goss was criticized for surrounding himself by former Capitol Hill aides, who were known as “Goss-lings” Some lawmakers worry that putting the CIA in the hands of a general could give the Defense Department undue influence in the intelligence community. Bush could have picked a replacement from among “scores and scores” of qualified civilians, said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “I can’t imagine why the president would do this,” Reid said. But he indicated it is too early to tell whether he and his colleagues will support or oppose the nomination. “We’ll wait and see what the hearings bring,” Reid said. As of press time, the Intelligence Committee had yet to schedule confirmation hearings. Frist said yesterday that he had not ruled out scheduling a vote before the one-week break that begins May 26 but conceded that “between now and Memorial Day, it’s crowded.” Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and George Allen (R-Va.) both said they are inclined to support the nomination. In New Hampshire, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) expressed reservations about Hayden. “I’m very troubled by the nomination because he is one of the main supporters representing Donald Rumsfeld, who helped to put in place the programs of spying on Americans and has been one of the biggest defenders of it,” he said, according to the Associated Press. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (D-Calif.), whose panel has jurisdiction over the agency’s budget, called Hayden “a very, very able guy.” But Lewis has no vote on the north side of the Capitol. “It’s in the hands of the gods,” he said as he passed the Senate chamber.
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#1. To: aristeides (#0)
Maybe Negroponte likes no one at the helm of CIA.
With the talk of removing the Deputy Director at CIA, and the #3, Foggo, just having quit, I wonder who is in charge over there.
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