After some initial resistance, President-elect Barack Obama's picks for his intelligence team appear likely to win Senate confirmation, but a possible plan to merge two White House security councils might not prove as popular.
Obama on Jan. 9 tapped retired Adm. Dennis C. Blair (r.) to serve as director of national intelligence and named former lawmaker and White House chief of staff Leon E. Panetta (l.) to head the CIA. He also announced that John Brennan would serve as his top adviser for both homeland security and counterterrorism, which could signal that the Homeland Security Council will be merged with the National Security Council.
Obama said Brennan will serve as his homeland security adviser and deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism, White House staff posts that will not require Senate confirmation.
Brennan, a former CIA official and interim head of the National Counterterrorism Center under President Bush, had been a candidate for director of the CIA. But his potential selection aroused resistance from some liberals who criticized his past remarks on Bush administration surveillance and interrogation policies.
By bringing Brennan into the White House, Obama avoids a potentially contentious confirmation process. But he might be creating a new problem if he attempts to consolidate the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council.
As we reported in CQ Today, Congressional sources speaking on condition of anonymity differed on whether Obama could merge the councils without legislative approval. But one source familiar with information conveyed to Capitol Hill by Obama's pick to lead the Homeland Security Department, Janet Napolitano, said she maintained that there had been no decision on a merger yet.
The leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs panel are skeptical of such a merger.
Spokeswoman Leslie Phillips said Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., "is undecided on the issue but open to the possibility, as long as the interests of homeland security are not lost or diminished. He plans to hold a hearing to explore the ramifications."
The committee's top Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, said in an e-mailed statement: "If the Homeland Security Council were to be merged with the National Security Council, I would be concerned that insufficient attention would be devoted to homeland security issues, and thus interagency conflicts over counterterrorism and disaster management programs may remain unresolved and homeland security programs be underfunded."
-- Tim Starks
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