Senate Confirms Hayden as CIA Director

On May 5, Porter J. Goss offered his resignation as the director of the CIA. On May 8, President George W. Bush nominated Gen. Hayden to be the new CIA chief. The short delay between Goss's resignation and Hayden's nomination is a sign that Goss was pressured to go.The easy confirmation and very short hearing period have proven wrong those who expected less than three weeks ago that the confirmation process would be rough and that the hearing period could go on for several months.

General Hayden served as the director of the National Security Agency (NSA) from March 1999 to April 2005.During his confirmation hearing, Hayden revealed that he was the architect of an eavesdropping program on the international telephone conversations of U.S. residents. This program remains highly controversial because it operates without warrants.The program raises "serious questions about whether the general is the right person to lead the CIA, serious questions about whether the general will continue to be an administration cheerleader, serious questions about his credibility," said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. Read full story