Senate Approves Brennan as CIA Director

Vote 63-34 day after Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster

The Senate voted, 63-34, to approve President Obama's nomination of John Brennan to lead the CIA Thursday afternoon, ending a week of debate that featured one of the longest filibusters in Senate history.

Brennan, Obama's counter-terrorism adviser and a 25-year CIA veteran, takes over an agency supervising a series of controversial drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world.

Those airstrikes, which have exacted a toll on al-Qaeda and the Taliban, were the subject of the 13-hour filibuster Wednesday by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who questioned the constitutionality of drone strikes without legal due process.