President Barack Obama and his choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, left, listen as the president’s choice for CIA Director, Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, John Brennan, right, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington.WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s choice of John Brennan to be the next CIA director hit a snag Tuesday as a Republican senator threatened to delay the nomination until the Obama administration provides answers on the deadly assault in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose opposition helped scuttle U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s hopes of becoming secretary of state, said the Senate should not confirm any Obama nominee for the nation’s top spy post until the administration elaborates on the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi.
“My support for a delay in confirmation is not directed at Mr. Brennan, but is an unfortunate, yet necessary, action to get information from this administration,” the South Carolina senator said in a statement. “I have tried – repeatedly – to get information on Benghazi, but my requests have been repeatedly ignored.”
He added that the administration’s “stonewalling on Benghazi” must end.
Kevin Bishop, a spokesman for Graham, said late Tuesday that it’s possible the senator would put a “hold” on Brennan’s nomination, but the lawmaker hopes he doesn’t have to take that step. In his statement, Graham signaled that he would try to slow the nomination.