Senate confirms Haspel as CIA’s first female director
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday as the first female director of the CIA following a difficult nomination process that reopened an emotional debate about brutal interrogation techniques in one of the darkest chapters in the spy agency’s history.
The 54-45 vote split both parties, with six Democrats joining most Republicans in support. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is battling brain cancer, was absent for the vote.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called President Donald Trump’s choice of Ms. Haspel to lead the agency “the right woman at the right time.”
Mr. McConnell steered the
confirmation swiftly past opponents, including the ailing Mr. McCain, whose longdistance rejection of the nominee over her role in the CIA’s torture program hung over an impassioned debate.
Ahead of voting, Mr. McConnell said Ms. Haspel “demonstrated candor, integrity and a forthright approach” throughout the confirmation process and “has quietly earned the respect and admiration” of intelligence community leaders.
Supporters cited Ms. Haspel’s 33-year career at the agency. Former intelligence officials said she earned the chance to take the helm of the agency.
But Ms. Haspel’s nomination was contentious because of her role in a former CIA program to brutally detain and interrogate terror suspects at covert sites abroad following 9/11.
Opponents said it wasn’t right to promote someone who supervised a black site in Thailand. They said the U.S. needs to close the book forever on the program that marred America’s image with allies abroad.
Several senators said Ms. Haspel was not forthcoming in answering questions about her role in the torture program or the CIA’s decision to destroy videotaped evidence of the sessions.
Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Jeff Flake of Arizona were among the Republicans who voted against Ms. Haspel. But on the Republican side of the aisle, the behind-the-scenes efforts by former high-level officials to press senators to get behind her nomination worked.
Ms. Haspel’s confirmation “will send a signal to the current workforce and to the workforce of the future that a lifetime commitment to the agency can and will be rewarded,” Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said Thursday. “She is intimately familiar with the threats facing our nation. She has no learning curve.”
Among Democrats supporting Ms. Haspel are several who are up for re-election this fall in states where Mr. Trump is popular, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Sen. Bill Nelson in Florida. Other Democrats voting yes were Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
Ms. Haspel, 61, is a native of Kentucky but grew up around the world as the daughter of an Air Force serviceman. She worked undercover for nearly three decades at the CIA in Africa, Europe and classified locations around the globe. Ms. Haspel, who learned Turkish and Russian, was tapped as deputy director of the CIA last year.
She worked under former CIA Director Mike Pompeo until Mr. Trump moved him to secretary of state. She has been serving as acting director.