McCain fury over 'secret' Congress move on drones: A political row erupted Thursday after the Washington Post reported that US lawmakers secretly inserted language into a huge spending bill that blocks major changes to the nation's controversial drone program.
Veteran US Senator John McCain said he was flabbergasted to learn that members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, who are mainly focused on cobbling together funding for federal agencies, slipped a provision into the $1.1 trillion spending package that maintains the Central Intelligence Agency's role in deadly counter-terrorism operations.
"This is the making of a major policy concerning our war on terror, and it's hidden in a secret annex?" McCain told AFP, after he stepped off the Senate floor where he angrily waved a copy of the Post and complained about the secret manoeuver.
"What it requires is hearings in the Intelligence Committee and the Armed Services Committee."
President Barack Obama's administration is said to be pressing for shifting drone operations away from the CIA and under military control, amid mounting concern over drone attacks resulting in civilian casualties.
