Deputy CIA Director to Take Over From Webster Next Week
WASHINGTON — Richard J. Kerr, the deputy director of the CIA, will take over next week as acting director to replace William H. Webster, who is retiring from government service, the agency announced Thursday.
The CIA public affairs office said that Kerr will become acting director on Monday and will serve until the new director is confirmed.
Webster announced his retirement in May and said he would leave the agency at the end of July to go into private law practice. But he extended his service, at the request of President Bush, after the Senate held up confirmation of his designated successor, Robert M. Gates.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, which was supposed to start confirmation hearings on Gates on July 15, postponed them until Sept. 16 to pursue new information regarding Gates’ role in the Iran-Contra affair.
Kerr, 55, became deputy CIA director when Bush named Gates as his deputy national security adviser in January, 1989.
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