[JURIST] The US Senate Intelligence Committee [official website] voted 12-3 Tuesday to approve the nomination [JURIST report] of US Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden [official profile] to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website]. Despite the recent controversy over Hayden’s role in the collection and turnover of US citizens’ phone records [JURIST report] to the National Security Agency (NSA) [official website], Hayden easily won bipartisan support from the committee and is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate later this week.

During Intelligence Committee hearings last week, Hayden – a former NSA director – stressed [JURIST report] the legality and importance of the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive]. He refused, however, to answer questions about agency phone records collection. Reuters has more.