WASHINGTON – The Senate's approval of John Brennan to be CIA director puts in place a third key member of President Barack Obama's national security team.
Brennan won Senate confirmation on Thursday after the administration bowed to demands from Republicans blocking the nomination and explicitly stated there are limits on the president's power to use drones against U.S. terror suspects on American soil.
Last week, Chuck Hagel won Senate confirmation to be defense secretary, joining Secretary of State John Kerry in Obama's second-term national security lineup.
The Brennan vote was 63-34 and came just hours after Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky used an old-style filibuster of the nomination to extract an answer from the administration on the drone question. Paul is a possible 2016 presidential candidate.
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