By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Without objection, the Senate on Thursday night confirmed Leon Panetta as CIA director, a day after the Senate Intelligence Committee recommended without opposition that he be approved.
Panetta is a former Democratic House member from California who served as OMB director and White House chief of staff during President Bill Clinton's administration.
By CHRIS STROHM, CongressDaily
The Senate Intelligence Committee is likely to vote today on the nomination of Leon Panetta to head the CIA, but it was unclear late Tuesday how much Republican support he will receive.
Republicans have expressed reservations over Panetta's qualifications to lead the embattled agency and his positions on key intelligence matters. That has drawn out his confirmation process, resulting in two public hearings and multiple exchanges of written questions and answers for the record.
The committee on Tuesday released the latest -- and likely final -- round of answers Panetta submitted in response to written questions, clearing the way for a confirmation vote.
Intelligence ranking member Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., insisted on Friday on having Panetta respond to additional questions. Bond's spokeswoman was unable to say Tuesday if Bond has made up his mind yet to vote for or against Panetta's nomination.
Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said last week that the strength of Republican support for Panetta on the committee would determine if the full Senate would be able to confirm him by unanimous consent.
In response to the latest round of questions, Panetta said his "first order of business" would be to meet with CIA career officials to determine how to fill any intelligence gaps the agency has with regard to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"It is not clear to me whether a drawdown in U.S. forces in Iraq can result in a drawdown of intelligence resources there," he added.
Continue reading Panetta Nomination Poised To Clear Intel Panel.
By CHRIS STROHM, CongressDaily
President Obama's pick to head the CIA today appeared to face one last hurdle on his way to being confirmed -- convincing Senate Intelligence ranking member Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., that he's the right man for the job. For the most part, Leon Panetta has sailed through his confirmation process to lead the embattled agency, which came under fire during the Bush administration for operating secret prisons in other countries and using coercive interrogation methods against terrorism suspects. A second round of Panetta's confirmation hearing was held today because Republicans had more questions. Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said after the hearing she plans to have the panel vote next week on the nomination. She said the strength of the vote would determine if the full Senate could also confirm Panetta by unanimous consent next week.
But Bond still had questions for Panetta after today's hearing. Asked if he is leaning toward voting to confirm Panetta, Bond only said: "I don't lean; I either do or I don't." He added: "We need to get all the information." Bond has been pressing Panetta on his views about rendition, or the practice of rounding up terrorist suspects and transferring them to other countries for interrogation. Under questioning today, Panetta retracted comments he made Thursday indicating the Bush administration transferred detainees to locations where it was known they would be tortured. Panetta said renditions would continue under the Obama administration on condition that the CIA has assurances from other countries that detainees will not be tortured.
In other questioning, Panetta told Feinstein that he will encourage CIA analysts to challenge and question intelligence they receive. "Very frankly you have to make waves," he said, suggesting that analysts should challenge assumptions and sources. Feinstein said one of the main reasons she wanted to lead the committee was to ensure that massive intelligence failures, such as the pre-war assessment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, never happen again.
By CHRIS STROHM, CongressDaily
President Obama's pick to head the CIA on Thursday found himself in the crossfire of political and policy differences between Democrats and Republicans on controversial intelligence matters.
Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee peppered Leon Panetta during his confirmation hearing with questions on issues that have sharply divided lawmakers along party lines. That included whether intelligence officials should be prosecuted for conducting coercive interrogations of terrorism suspects and how practical it would be to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
A second round of the hearing is slated for today, as Republicans still have questions.
Panetta said he believes that waterboarding, or choking detainees with water, is torture. The U.S. government has admitted subjecting three detainees to waterboarding.
But Panetta said intelligence officials should not be investigated or prosecuted for conducting coercive interrogation practices if they were following what they believed to be legitimate legal opinions provided by the Justice Department during the Bush administration.
He added, however, that if officials deliberately violated the law, then "obviously in those limited cases there should be prosecutions."
Continue reading Panetta Faces Questions On Terror, Torture.
By AMY HARDER
Four days after rumors began swirling about Barack Obama's surprise pick of Leon Panetta for CIA director, the buzz has now become official. At a press conference this morning Obama announced the nominations of Panetta, retired Adm. Dennis Blair for National Intelligence director and former CIA official John Brennan -- who withdrew from consideration for CIA director in November after opposition from liberal bloggers -- as White House homeland security adviser and deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism.
Some Bush administration officials will remain to work with the incoming intelligence team. Current DNI Mike McConnell will offer counsel on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, and Michael Leiter will continue as head of the United States National Counterterrorism Center.
Panetta has served as a congressman from California, Office of Management and Budget director, and White House chief of staff to President Clinton, but he has no direct intelligence experience. The unexpected pick has already triggered criticism both in Congress and the media, and will likely generate tough questioning at Panetta's confirmation hearing.
Obama wasted no time pre-emptively defending the pick. After listing Blair's credentials, the president-elect said Blair's experience "will be exceptionally complemented" by Panetta. "Let me be clear," Obama stressed. "In Leon Panetta, the agency will have a director who has my complete trust and substantial clout."
Panetta also received an unequivocal seal of approval from Blair in his remarks. "I couldn't have asked for a better leader for the CIA," Blair said, as he turned to Panetta. "With your background and perspective, the agency is in superb hands."
Panetta, who took to the podium after Blair, stressed the need for a strong intelligence team. "I commit to consulting closely with my former colleagues and the Congress to form the kind of partnership we need to win the war on terror," he said.
Show Me The Stimulus Plan!
Not surprisingly, the president-elect opened the presser with a grim message about December's employment report: 524,000 jobs lost last month. That brings the total number of jobs lost in 2008 to 2.6 million, amounting to "the single worst year of job loss since World War II," Obama said. The incoming president described the situation as "dire, deteriorating" and one that "demands urgent and dramatic action."
Most reporters' questions focused on Obama's forthcoming economic stimulus package. When probed about criticisms surrounding his plan -- specifically regarding its size and the difficulty of pushing it through Congress -- the president-elect said that his administration will always listen and take good economic ideas from any source. "What is not an option," Obama said, "is to sit and engage in posturing or standard partisan fights when the American people out there are struggling. Now, I don't expect Congress is going to do that; they understand the urgency of the situation."
President-elect Barack Obama's selection of Leon Panetta as CIA director garnered mixed reviews from talking heads.
Not everyone is thrilled with Barack Obama's reported second choice for the position of CIA director. But while Leon Panetta's intelligence credentials appear thin, his resume in government is top-notch: He represented California's 16th District for eight terms in Congress and served as House Budget chairman, Office of Management and Budget director and chief of staff to President Clinton.
Though Panetta has kept a relatively low profile since leaving government, National Journal has profiled him extensively over the years -- in his days as a congressional budget hawk, during his tenure at OMB, during the tumultuous years when he served as White House chief of staff, and finally, after he had left the administration and was free to comment on the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The picture that emerges is that of an intelligent, hard-driving but good-natured public servant respected on both sides of the aisle -- variously described as "Mr. Budget," a "principled pragmatist," a "take-charge conductor" and "a bulldog."
