Senate confirms Comey to be next FBI director

[FuzzyLumpkins]

(Reuters) - Former Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Comey, a Republican who gained fame when he refused to sanction a government surveillance initiative in 2004, won Senate confirmation on Monday as President Barack Obama's pick to head the FBI. The vote was 93-1.

Comey, 52, will replace Robert Mueller, who has led the bureau since shortly before the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The roll-call vote began minutes after Republican Senator Rand Paul lifted a hold on the nomination, which he did when the FBI met his demand by answering questions about the domestic use of drones, unmanned surveillance aircraft.

Paul said in a statement that he disagreed with the FBI's position that it does not have to get a warrant to deploy a drone, but he ended his hold because the agency responded.

Paul cast the lone vote against confirmation.

Comey served as deputy U.S. attorney general for President George W. Bush, a Republican, from 2003 to 2005. He gained a reputation for being willing to buck authority when he refused in 2004 to certify aspects of the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...96S13L20130729

[Th'Pusher]

I thought Rand Paul was gonna filibuster this nomination.

[LnGrrrR]

If there is one thing this Congress can agree on, it's dismantling civil liberties.