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Journalism of Courage
After lagging for weeks,John Brennans nomination to be CIA director is on the fast track to Senate confirmation after the White House agreed to give lawmakers access to top-secret legal opinions justifying the use of lethal drone strikes against terror suspects.
The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved President Barack Obamas pick to lead the spy agency,clearing the way for the full Senate to confirm Brennan as early as Thursday. The tally was 12-3,with four Republicans on the committee siding with the eight Democrats on the panel.
The committees chairwoman,Senator Dianne Feinstein,is calling for swift approval of Brennans nomination. If confirmed,Brennan would replace Michael Morell,the CIAs deputy director who has been acting director since David Petraeus resigned in November after acknowledging an affair with his biographer.
Hes got a whole chain of duties as the No. 2 and it8217;s hard to be No. 1 at the same time, Feinstein said Tuesday of Morell. This is an agency that most of us think needs oversight,needs supervision and needs direction. It needs a director.
But Republican senators,John McCain and Lindsey Graham,have said they will oppose Brennans nomination on the Senate floor if they dont get classified information,including emails among top US national security officials,detailing the Obama administrations actions immediately following the attack last September in Benghazi that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Brennan currently serves as Obamas top counterterrorism adviser in the White House.
