Next Time, Call First

Barack Obama's aides have been phoning key members of Congress to apologize for not letting them know in advance that the president-elect had picked Leon Panetta as CIA director.

After news of the Panetta nomination leaked Monday afternoon, two Democratic senators deeply involved in intelligence issues indicated they were angry that the nomination had not been vetted with them. The incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Diane Feinstein of California, appeared particularly irate. "I know nothing about this, other than what I've read," said Feinstein in a press statement. She added that in her view, "the agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time." Panetta, a former congressman from California, served as Bill Clinton's chief of staff. An aide to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Intelligence Committee's current chair, said Rockefeller was likewise irked by Obama's failure to consult Congress and was concerned about the absence of espionage expertise in Panetta's background.

Not all Democrats on the intelligence panel expressed reservations about Panetta. Sen. Ron Wyden, a senior committee member from Oregon, said Panetta is "a smart, savvy D.C. veteran and a strong choice to lead the CIA." Wyden said he planned to work with Panetta "to declassify much of the story of what went wrong at the CIA these last eight years, so that we can both take steps to make Americans safer and protect the values that define us as Americans."

Rep. Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, offered his support in a statement released Tuesday afternoon: "I have known and worked with Leon Panetta and believe his selection would be a sensible choice that would provide strong leadership and effective management to the Central Intelligence Agency."

Republicans appeared to enjoy a moment of schadenfreude as Democrats squabbled over the CIA pick. Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, the intel committee's top Republican, declared: "While I will reserve final judgment on President-elect Obama's nomination for the leader of our terror-fighting agency, I will be looking hard at Panetta's intelligence expertise and qualifications."

By Tuesday morning, people close to the controversy said that Obama aides had made efforts to apologize to both Sens. Feinstein and Rockefeller for failing to consult with them. "There are a lot of phone calls being made this morning," said one Democratic official, who, like others quoted in this story, asked for anonymity when discussing politically sensitive discussions. Tuesday afternoon, Feinstein issued a statement saying that both Obama and Vice-President elect Joe Biden had contacted her to explain why they believed Panetta was a good choice. Early indications were that the Obama camp's belated outreach appeared to be having an effect.