Senate confirmed Brennan as next CIA director

WASHINGTON DC: The US Senate voted 63-34 to confirm President Obama's former counterterrorism advisor John Brennan as the new CIA director on Thursday.

The vote came after Republican Senator Rand Paul filibustered the nomination for nearly 13 hours on Wednesday, asking the White House to respond whether they would allow drone strikes to kill US citizens on US soil.

According to Senator Paul's website, Attorney General Eric Holder responded to his question through a letter, responding with a no to the question "Does the President have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?"

After receiving the Attorney General's response, Senator Paul announced he would end his objections to John Brennan's nomination. In a statement, Paul said, "This is a major victory for American civil liberties and ensures the protection of our basic Constitutional rights. We have Separation of Powers to protect our rights. That's what government was organized to do and that's what the Constitution was put in place to do." Senator Paul was amongst 34 senators who voted against Brennan's nomination.

On Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted to end the debate on Brennan's nomination. The vote tally to confirm John Brennan as CIA director.

John Brennan will take over from CIA's acting director Mike Morrell.

Former CIA director David Petraeus resigned after news of his extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell came to light.