The Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday voted 10-5 in favor of Gina Haspel to be the next director of the CIA, setting up her expected Senate confirmation later this month.
“Gina Haspel is the most qualified person the president could choose to lead the CIA and the most prepared nominee in the 70-year history of the agency,” said Commitee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C. “I’m pleased to see the committee favorably report her nomination to the full Senate, and I look forward to her swift confirmation.”
[Opinion: Gina Haspel: One of the most qualified nominees ever for CIA director]
Haspel found bipartisan support after weeks of debate over her role overseeing enhanced interrogation techniques used by the agency more than a decade ago. The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, voted for her.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., praised the panel vote Wednesday morning and called Haspel “the right woman at the right time” to lead the CIA.
McConnell said the Senate would advance Haspel’s vote on the floor “expeditiously,” but did not announce a specific date or time.
Haspel has served three decades at the agency and is widely respected by the intelligence community, which helped ease her Intelligence Committee endorsement.
Some vocal Democratic opponents and outside groups, including the ACLU, say Haspel has not gone far enough in denouncing the interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, that were used by the CIA to get information out of terror suspects in the years following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Haspel has not denounced the use of enhanced interrogation, but said in a letter to Warner that the CIA should not have used them.
Four Democrats now pledge to support Haspel’s nomination on the Senate floor, all but assuring her confirmation. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is so far the only voting Republican who plans to vote against Haspel.
