Senate OKs drone memo author to be federal judge

The Senate has confirmed another of President Barack Obama's nominees to become a top federal judge.
David Barron today won approval. Barron was in the Justice Department in 2009 and 2010 when he helped devise the Obama administration's legal justification for using drones to kill suspected American terrorists overseas.
Today's vote was 53-45.
Some critics of Barron's nomination disagreed with his determination that the government had the constitutional right to kill Americans suspected of terrorism.
Others opposed the administration's insistence on keeping the memos describing that rationale a secret. And some Republicans said he is too liberal.
Barron will join the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals. He is now a Harvard Law School professor.