New chief for an embattled CIA

Goss "is a well-respected intelligence veteran, which is exactly what we need right now," says Kevin O'Connell, an intelligence expert at the RAND Corp. in Washington. "What's not yet clear is how [the CIA job] will relate to this national intelligence job that's being discussed."

Goss will also have to navigate a Senate confirmation process that may become highly politicized, as both parties struggle to be seen as the true heirs of the 9/11 commission's legacy.

Some Democrats have warned the White House that Goss, long a front-runner for the open CIA post, might be deemed too political a pick, given his partisan service in Congress. The senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, has said he would not support someone from Congress for the CIA job.

Furthermore, Goss's tenure as head of the intelligence panel has not been without bruised feelings.

"Everyone loves Porter, but his staff is pretty hard-core and is known to play hardball," says a knowledgeable intelligence source.

If he successfully navigates the Senate nomination process, Goss will face another possibly restive faction: the CIA old guard itself.

Though long seen as a defender of the agency, Goss has recently been critical of its failings. A section of this year's House intelligence bill contained scathing criticism of the agency's actions prior to Sept.11, for instance.

Some CIA officials have seen this criticism as a ploy by Goss to position himself for the CIA job. The CIA's current acting director, John McLaughlin, has rejected the complaints as ill-advised, for instance.

"There's going to be some old guard in the building who may not be fond of having someone from the Hill there, so there will be some flak on that . . . [Goss's] leadership skills will be tested there, because the place is in a real funk right now," says former CIA official Ron Marks.

In a possible sign of struggles to come, the tumult over perceived intelligence failings continued in Washington even as Goss's nomination was being announced.

House Democrats gathered for a caucus on Tuesday to talk over ways to push their own interpretation of 9/11 panel's recommendations. Members of the panel itself testified in open session on Capitol Hill.

"I think clearly that some that are more on the reform side of the agenda may consider [Goss]. . . as someone who may not bring some of the new thoughts into the process, but we have to have that position filled," says Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.

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