Bush Nominates Hayden To Lead CIA

Congressional Support Mixed For Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden

(CBS/AP) 
James Lewis, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says Hayden's military background doesn't make the nomination a step toward Pentagon control of the civilian agency. Lewis says Hayden should be seen as an "intelligence person with a military background."

If Hayden is confirmed, military officers would run all the major spy agencies, from the ultra-secret National Security Agency to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Hoekstra said Monday morning that he was concerned that Hayden's nomination would detract from the real issue of intelligence reform.

"The debate in the Senate may end up being about the terrorist surveillance program and not about the future of the CIA or the intelligence community, which is exactly where the debate needs to be," Hoekstra said on The Early Show. "This is about whether we still have alignment and agreement between the executive branch and Congress as to where intelligence reform needs to go."

Hoekstra's sentiment was echoed by Republican Congressman Saxby Chambliss, who said Hayden's military background would be a "major problem," and several Democrats who made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows. Senator Joseph Biden, a Democrat, said Hayden could leave agents with the impression that the CIA has been "just gobbled up by the Defense Department."

Some lawmakers, like Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, suggested that he might think about resigning his military post if he were going to head the CIA.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she has found Hayden to be "straightforward and willing to share his candid professional judgments even when they differed" from those of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

"Nevertheless, to send a signal of independence from the Pentagon, General Hayden may want to consider retiring from the Air Force," she said. "That would put to rest questions about whether an active duty military officer should lead the CIA at this time."

But Hoekstra said on The Early Show, "Don't make him trade in his four stars for pinstripes. That's not necessary,"

Talk of Hayden's possible nomination has reignited the debate over the Bush's administration's domestic surveillance program, which Hayden used to oversee as the former head of the National Security Agency. Administration sources tell Plante one reason the president picked Hayden to head the CIA was his unapologetic defense of Mr. Bush's warrantless eavesdropping of calls to and from overseas.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, a Republican, said he would use a Hayden nomination to raise questions about the legality of the program and did not rule out holding it up until he gets answers. "I'm not going to draw any lines in the sand until I see how the facts evolve," Specter said on Fox.

White House insiders tried to shrug off suggestions that Hayden's military experience could become a serious issue. And they said they welcome a fight over the domestic eavesdropping program, an issue that Mr. Bush certainly has not avoided.

Hayden has his defenders on Capitol Hill. Republican Sen. John McCain said he hopes he could be confirmed.

"In all due respect to my colleagues, and I obviously respect their views, Gen. Hayden is really more of an intelligence person than he is an Air Force officer," McCain said on CBS' Face The Nation. "I think that we should also remember that there had been other former military people who have been directors of the CIA."