Intel nomination stalls as Republicans demand reports
GOP senators want details on spy satellite-related system and threat assessments for terrorism suspects who have been released from Guantanamo.
The nomination of retired Air Force Gen. James Clapper to be the nation's top spymaster has hit a few stumbling blocks, with at least three Republican senators seeking to obtain certain intelligence reports and analyses before they will let the confirmation process move forward.
Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., said Monday night that he placed a hold on Clapper's nomination to be director of national intelligence until he gets a report on "an intelligence system."
That system relates to a past multibillion-dollar program to overhaul the nation's spy satellites, or what intelligence agencies call "overhead architecture," according to a knowledgeable source.
McCain said he requested the report more than a year ago and was given assurances by Obama administration officials -- and indirectly by Clapper -- that he would get the report.
"I'm worried about the fact that information I'm told to my face [will come] is not sent over," McCain said.
Separately, Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Kit Bond, R-Mo., left open the door Monday to placing a hold on Clapper for another reason: Bond wants threat assessments from the Obama administration about terrorism suspects who have been released from the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The senator added that he has seen only a redacted version of the threat assessments.
"I will use and consider all tools available to get the full report and ability to talk to the analysts involved," Bond said. He said he has been asking for the information and access to the analysts for three weeks.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., was said to be aligning with Bond on the issue, although his office could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Intelligence Committee unanimously approved Clapper's nomination last week, meaning that Bond at least allowed the process to advance to the next stage. But the hurdles threaten to derail Senate Democrats' plans to confirm Clapper before the month-long recess begins this weekend.
"This is a critical national-security position that can't remain vacant when the Congress goes on recess, particularly since the acting DNI, David Gompert, is retiring at the end of the month," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement. "There is ample time to confirm him this week, and that is what we should do."
Feinstein said she expects McCain to receive the report he is seeking Tuesday.
A White House spokesman said the administration "is eager to work with Senator McCain in an effort to answer additional questions beyond those already discussed, but we cannot accept further delay of this critical nomination."