With a 63-34 vote, the U.S. Senate has confirmed John O. Brennan as the next director of the CIA, according to a New York Times articleBefore voting against Brennan’s nomination, Sen. Rand Paul pushed for more information about the White House’s drone policy by conducting a nearly 13-hour filibuster.
The main question Paul wanted answered was if the Obama administration had the legal authority to kill American citizens in the U.S.
After the filibuster had ended, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. told Paul in a letter that current legal policies do not give the president “authority to use a drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil.”
In a statement, President Obama said the bipartisan confirmation recognizes Brennan’s “determination to keep America safe, his commitment to working with Congress, his ability to build relationships with foreign partners and his fidelity to the values that define us as a nation.”
