WASHINGTON (AP) -
The Obama administration bowed to demands from Republicans blocking a
vote on the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA on Thursday,
stating there are limits to a president's ability to order drone strikes
on U.S. soil against suspected terrorists who are American citizens.
The reassurances were contained in a letter from
Attorney General Eric Holder to Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican
who staged a filibuster across 13 hours on Wednesday demanding an answer
to the question.
It was unclear whether Holder's letter would
persuade Paul and others supporting him to permit a vote on Brennan. If
not, a test vote is set for Saturday.
The letter itself is brief:
"It has come to my attention that you have now
asked an additional question: 'Does the president have the authority to
use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on
American soil?" Holder wrote Paul.
"The answer to that question is no."
Brennan has long appeared to hold enough votes to win confirmation.
But the letter marked the administration's third concession in recent days in its attempt to bring the matter to a vote.
Earlier this week, responding to demands from
lawmakers in both parties, the White House gave members of the Senate
intelligence committee access to legal opinions justifying the use of
lethal drone strikes against terror suspects. It also gave Republicans
documents relating to last year's deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in
Benghazi, Libya.
Paul's filibuster roiled the Republican party at the same time it got the attention of the White House.
Just hours after Sen. Rand Paul ended his nearly
13-hour talkathon - and got an endorsement from Minority Leader and
fellow Kentuckian Mitch McConnell - two senior Republicans on the Armed
Services Committee dismissed Paul's claims as unfounded and ridiculous
and expressed support for Obama's controversial drone program as the
nation wages war against terrorism.
Both Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also challenged members of their own party.
"To my Republican colleagues, I don't remember any
of you coming down here suggesting that President Bush was going to kill
anybody with a drone," Graham said in remarks on the Senate floor.
McCain scoffed at Paul's contention that the U.S.
would have targeted actress Jane Fonda during her trip to Hanoi during
the Vietnam War.
"I must say that the use of Jane Fonda's name does
evoke certain memories with me, and I must say that she is not my
favorite American, but I also believe that, as odious as it was, Ms.
Fonda acted within her constitutional rights," said McCain, a prisoner
of war in Vietnam for 5½ years. "And to somehow say that someone who
disagrees with American policy and even may demonstrate against it is
somehow a member of an organization which makes that individual an enemy
combatant is simply false. It is simply false."
During the height of the long war, Fonda traveled to North Vietnam, visited with the enemy and was widely vilified.
After his remarks, Graham told reporters that he
had planned to vote against Brennan's nomination but now intends to
support the nominee because the confirmation fight has become a
referendum on the drone program.
Paul is pressing the administration for greater
clarity on whether the Obama administration has the authority to use
lethal force, such as a drone, against a suspected terrorist who is a
U.S. citizen.
"Do you have the authority to kill Americans on
American soil?" Paul summed up the question for reporters on Thursday.
He said he had not received a response from the White House.
Hours after the filibuster, Republican leader McConnell said Paul deserves an answer.
"It simply doesn't have that right, and the
administration should just answer the question," McConnell said. "There
is no reason we cannot get this question answered today, and we should
get this question answered today. Frankly, it should have been answered a
long time ago."
White House press secretary Jay Carney said White House officials have also been in touch with Paul's office.
The Obama administration has said it has not
conducted such operations inside U.S. borders nor does it intend to.
Paul and backers said that wasn't good enough. They wanted the White
House to rule out the possibility of them happening altogether.
Paul's performance, which centered on questions
about the possible use of drones against targets in the United States,
clearly energized a number of his GOP colleagues, who came to the floor
in a show of support and to share in the speaking duties. And even as
the night progressed, Paul appeared invigorated despite being on his
feet for so long. Actual talking filibusters have become rare in the
Senate, where the rules are typically used in procedural ways to block
the other party's agenda.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee used
Paul's stand to raise money for GOP candidates and said Thursday that
they received donations "in the high five figures as of last tally."
About a dozen of Paul's colleagues who share his
conservative views, many of them elected with strong support from tea
party voters, came to the floor to take turns speaking for him and
trading questions. McConnell congratulated Paul for his "tenacity and
for his conviction," and he called Brennan a "controversial nominee."
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, read Twitter messages from
people eager to "Stand With Rand." The Twitterverse, said Cruz, is
"blowing up." And as the night went on, Cruz spoke for longer periods as
Paul leaned against a desk across the floor. Cruz, an insurgent
Republican with strong tea party backing, read passages from
Shakespeare's "Henry V" and lines from the 1970 movie "Patton," starring
George C. Scott.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., made references to
rappers Jay-Z and Wiz Khalifa. Rubio, a possible GOP presidential
candidate in 2016, chided the White House for failing to respond to
Paul. "It's not a Republican question. It's not a conservative
question," Rubio said. "It's a constitutional question."
