Gen. Michael Hayden won confirmation as the 20th CIA director Friday in a lopsided Senate vote, placing a career Air Force officer in charge of the civilian spy agency wrestling with intelligence reform at home as well as other international threats.

The President has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations.

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

CIA Director Porter Goss Resigns Abruptly - Bloggers Two Steps Ahead of the Media