Bush nominates Air Force official to lead CIA

President Bush on Monday chose Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to lead the embattled CIA, re-igniting a debate over the domestic surveillance program that the former head of the National Security Agency once ran, the Associated Press reported.

Republican and Democratic critics also questioned the wisdom of putting a military officer in charge of the civilian spy agency.

"Mike Hayden is supremely qualified for this position," Bush said in the Oval Office, with Hayden at his side. Without mentioning Hayden's critics or their objections, the president said: "He knows the intelligence community from the ground up."

If confirmed, Hayden would replace Porter Goss, who resigned last week. Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., had said in advance of the announcement that he would use a Hayden nomination to raise questions about the legality of the domestic surveillance program and did not rule out holding it up until he gets answers.