John Brennan has been confirmed as the new CIA director.
On Wednesday Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) launched an "old-fashioned" filibuster over Obama's choice of the next CIA director, which is John Brennan. The filibuster generated extraordinary scrutiny of the Obama administration's drone-strike program and revealed "supposedly" some striking divisions and alliances on Capitol Hill over the president's anti-terrorist tactics overseas. After the filibuster, Brennan confirmed to be the next CIA director by a vote of 63 to 34. The filibuster began Wednesday afternoon and lasted for 13 hours, ending at midnight on Thursday. Paul wanted the White House to clarify that it would not use aerial drones on U.S. soil to kill American citizens suspected of terrorism.
On Monday in a letter to Paul, Attorney General Eric Holder said that an "extraordinary" circumstance such as 9/11 or the 1941 Pearl Harbor attacks might warrant the president to authorize the use of military to utilize lethal force in the U.S. Holder said the situation he was making was "entirely hypothetical." Holder sent a second brief letter to Paul which stated, "It has now come to my attention that you have now asked an additional question: 'Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?" Holder wrote, 'The answer to that question is no.' Paul said he was satisfied with that answer.
Paul stated he was satisfied with the answer. The question I have to ask Paul is how can you trust anything that Holder says? He's been dishonest on a number of questions in the past I wouldn't take his word that President Obama wouldn't use drone attacks on American soil.
When I heard about Rand Paul's filibuster Wednesday, I was thinking it would've been great if some Republican would've utilized a filibuster when the Affordable Care Act was being debated before the Senate in 2009. Why the GOP didn't utilize a filibuster to stop the passage of Obamacare in 2009 is anybody's guess.
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