President Obama's nominee to be the Central Intelligence Agency's Director John Brennan was confirmed by a vote of 63 to 34 on Thursday. The confirmation culminated even after an unusual filibuster by Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul the day before sought to derail Brennan's hopes to assume the position. Senator Paul also sought to to expose the administration's policy of targeted killings of terrorists. Brennan, during his time as national security adviser, was a big proponent of the administration's drone policy.
Senator Rand Paul staged a 12-hour filibuster on Wednesdady in an effort to demand that the president explicitly say whether he thinks he has the constitutional authority to order the killing of non combatant American citizens on U.S. soil. The next day Senator Paul received a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder,in which he received word that the president does not have the authority “to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil.”
Also during his filibuster, Senator Paul admonished Brennan: “What we need to do is optimize transparency on these (targeted killing) issues and at the same optimize secrecy and the protection of our national security,” he said.
Senator John McCain of Arizona, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, was not impressed with Senator Paul's 13-hour filibuster and ripped into his fellow Republican's "showmanship," quoting an editorial in the Wall Street Journal entitled "Rand Paul's Drone Rant."
"I watched some of that, quote, debate, unquote, yesterday. I saw colleagues who know better come to the floor and voice some of this same concern, which is totally unfounded," McCain said. "I must say that the use of Jane Fonda's name does evoke certain memories with me, and I must say that she is not my favorite American. But I also believe that, as odious as it was, Ms. Fonda acted within her constitutional rights, and to somehow say that someone who disagrees with American policy -- and even may demonstrate against it -- is somehow a member of an organization which makes that individual an enemy combatant is simply false," McCain added.
Brennan also said during his confirmation hearing that those who protest against the targeted killings “really have a misunderstanding of what we do as a government, and the care that we take, and the agony that we go through” to ensure that innocent bystanders aren’t hit in the drone strikes in Yemen and other countries. “The American people would be quite pleased to know that we’ve been very disciplined and very judicious,” he argued.
The sole Democrat who voted against confirming Brennan was Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, saying "the administration has stonewalled me and the Judiciary Committee for too long on a reasonable request to review the legal justification for the use of drones in the targeted killing of American citizens."
California Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein, disagreed, arguing that Brennan's 25 years as a CIA analyst, head of counterterrorism efforts and White House homeland security advisor made him the best person for the job. “No one is better prepared to be CIA director than Mr. Brennan,” she said.
In opposing Brennan, Intelligence Committee ranking Republican member Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia criticized Brennan’s answers about leaks from the Obama administration on terrorist operations. Chambliss also said Brennan was an architect of the administration’s policy of refusing to send any more new terrorist suspects to Guantanamo Bay.
The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency reports to the Director of National Intelligence. Brennan now replaces Michael Morrell, who presided as director after General David Petraeus, the four star general resigned followng a sex scandal last year.
