US Senate confirms Haspel to be first woman CIA director
None
WASHINGTON - The US Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday to be director of the CIA, ending a bruising confirmation fight centered on her ties to the spy agency's past use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques.
Haspel, who will be the first woman director of the CIA, is a 33-year veteran at the agency currently serving as its acting director. As senators continued to vote, the tally was 51-43 in favor of her nomination in the 100-member chamber, where a simple majority was required for confirmation.
Haspel was approved despite stiff opposition over her links to the CIA's use of harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning widely considered torture, in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
