Rand Paul Threatens To Block John Brennan’s CIA Nomination

Rand Paul (R-KY) threatened to block John Brennan’s CIA nomination until the administration answers the Senator’s questions about drone use in the United States.

Paul promised to do “whatever it takes” to delay the confirmation until the nominee answers whether Americans can legally be killed by drone strikes inside the United States.

USA Today reports that the Kentucky Republican plans to filibuster the nomination if necessary until those questions are answered.

Paul has also accused Brennan of skirting around the issue when it was raised during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Rand Paul made it clear he will not vote for John Brennan until his questions are answered. Paul stated:

“He was asked a very specific question … ‘Can you kill an American with a drone in America?’ And he refused to answer the question.”

Yahoo! News notes that Paul went on to say, “I find that very, very worrisome [and] we’re going to do whatever it takes to get the answer.”

Filibusters are often threatened, but rarely used on Cabinet nominees. If Senator Rand Paul does attempt a filibuster, it will likely be broken by Senate Democrats. But, the delay and noise the move would make would serve to delay Brennan’s confirmation. It would also be an embarrassing setback for the Obama administration, which has faced a tough round of Senate hearings during this term.

Paul told former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a hearing on Benghazi that he wanted to fire her. Her potential replacement never even had a hearing. Other Republicans have threatened to block former Senator Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense.

Do you think Rand Paul is right to threaten blocking John Brennan’s CIA nomination?

[Image by Gage Skidmore (Flickr) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons]