We've been following the political maneuvering over Leon Panetta's CIA nomination since it began -- and in a prime example of the punishingly quick news cycle on Capitol Hill, opposition to the pick has almost totally dissipated now that it's actually been announced.

Well, except for Kit Bond (MO), the senior Republican on the Senate intelligence committee. Bond chose the same day he announced his retirement to mount a crusade against Panetta's alleged failure to understand pre-war intelligence lapses. (Whereas Bond was consistently on the right side of the intel.)

So if Bond wants to dig into every word of Panetta's anti-Bush op-eds for a public flogging, one would expect that Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) -- his House counterpart and FISA-eviscerating buddy -- would be all for it. Right, Rep. Hoekstra?

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As a Capitol Hill source just pointed out, Sen. Dianne Feinstein's quick turnaround on Leon Panetta caps a downright bizarre turn of events:

So let me get this straight:

--Feinstein expresses strong reservations about Panetta (for a variety of reasons)
--Feinstein talks with Obama
--Feinstein slightly walks back on Panetta
--Feinstein talks with Panetta
--Feinstein supports Panetta

This is a profile in courage how exactly?

And we haven't even heard the complaints from Senate intelligence committee Republicans ... yet.

Via AP, we see that incoming Senate intelligence chairman Dianne Feinstein is now supportive of Leon Panetta's nomination to head the CIA.

Seems that Panetta called Feinstein last night and she is "confident he'd surround himself with good personnel" at the agency, as AP reports. Sounds like an indirect agreement that current CIA No. 2 Stephen Kappes will remain at the agency.

That's one Democratic schism resolved for the week; one more to go...

Just talked with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) as he left the Democratic caucus luncheon (right behind Sen. Hillary Clinton, who smiled and waved but didn't stop for questions). He said the Obama transition team thanked him for his positive remarks on the Leon Panetta CIA nomination yesterday -- words that helped smooth a growing political tussle over the pick -- and asked him to keep saying good things.

Feingold did just that. When I asked if Panetta's lack of strict CIA operational experience could prove a hindrance, he said: "Leon Panetta has more experience than anybody I know in terms of interfacing with people who have that kind of experience."

I asked if he would support keeping current CIA No. 2 Steven Kappes on at the agency, as Dianne Feinstein would prefer (and the Obama transition has agreed to).

"I haven't decided that," Feingold said, "but it's something that may not be my decision -- but it may be a good combination."

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) isn't on the intelligence committee, but he's known as a dogged manager of the health of government agencies -- the man may just fire off miffed letters to inspectors general in his sleep. (And as the New York Times pointed out, his SCHIP stance makes him "one of the Democrats' favorite Republicans.")

So it was interesting to hear Grassley tell reporters on a conference call today that he gets where Dianne Feinstein is coming from on the Leon Panetta nomination. Grassley questioned whether Panetta's management skills would be hindered by his lack of internal knowledge of the CIA. Here's Grassley:

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The state of play on Leon Panetta's nomination to lead the CIA looks far more even-keeled than yesterday, when unexpected criticism from the incoming and outgoing leaders on the Senate intelligence committee looked to be throwing the pick off-course.

Still, while the politics of this don't point to big trouble for the Panetta pick, it does reflect a deeper substantive rift than mere ruffled feathers on the part of Feinstein and Rockefeller. CIA field operatives were voicing complaints about his lack of intelligence experience that parallel Feinstein's (although the skepticism among intel veterans was by no means universal).

I'm going to keep talking to intel committee members today about that potential split in the agency's ranks, and whether it could resurface before -- or during -- Panetta's confirmation hearing.

I've had a soft spot for former Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) ever since his spirited opposition to the war in Iraq while chairing the intelligence committee in 2002. (My mother also taught at Bob Graham Education Center, but from what I hear he hardly ever visited.)

And courtesy of Ben Smith, we see that Graham is also sanguine about Leon Panetta's nomination to head the CIA. If anyone understands the need to place a dedicated critic of Bush detainee policy at CIA, it's Graham -- so his endorsement is good news.

But Graham also offers a candid theory on what underlies Feinstein's and Rockefeller's ruffled feathers. "I don't think it's a policy disagreement - I think it's a matter of comity," he told Smith. "It was a matter of how the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee and a fellow Californian should be informed."

I'm not convinced that this is merely a bruised ego; Feinstein and Rockefeller's preferred choice to lead CIA has questionable ties to a past extraordinary rendition. It may be that Obama's hunt for a CIA chief with no ties to previous misdeeds essentially forced him to pick an outsider like Panetta, but I'm interested to see if other senators believe a nominee with hard intel experience is essential here.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), a stalwart progressive whose record of opposing Bush administration misdeeds makes him a bellwether senator, is just now coming out with his take on Leon Panetta. And he's pleased with the clean break signaled by the nomination.

I am pleased by reports of the nomination of Leon Panetta to be the next CIA Director. These reports indicate that President-elect Obama recognizes the need for fresh leadership for the intelligence community. Leon Panetta has a long and distinguished career in public service and there are few people of whom I have a higher opinion. He has been a strong voice opposing the interrogation practices authorized by the Bush Administration and he is well-equipped to restore our national security, which has been undermined by the current administration's policies. I look forward to closely examining his record, hearing his plans for protecting our nation against al Qaeda and other threats, and learning how he will help restore the rule of law after years of lawlessness that have undermined our national security.

Panetta's symbolic value as a critic of the Bush administration's detainee-treatment debacles may just trump his lack of insider's cred with intelligence officials.

House intelligence committee chairman Silvestre Reyes may not get to preside over Leon Panetta's confirmation hearing, but he's pretty psyched to see the former White House chief of staff get tapped as Barack Obama's CIA director. From Reyes' statement:

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Just interviewed Pat Roberts (R-KS), former Senate intelligence chairman, about the contention surrounding Leon Panetta's nomination to head the CIA. Roberts was castigated by the liberal establishment for his performance investigating the intelligence errors surrounding the war in Iraq, but his four years helming the committee gave him a front-row seat for previous confirmation fights. And he had an interesting message: He plans to support Panetta.

"On the one hand, I think it's good to take a fresh look with a new director" at CIA, Roberts told me. "On the other hand, it's not on-the-job training [at the agency]. But Leon is a fast study."

Asked about the Obama transition's failure to inform incoming intelligence chairman Dianne Feinstein and outgoing chairman Jay Rockefeller about the Panetta nod, Roberts replied: "I don't think it's intentional -- California politics aside." (A possible reference to Panetta and Feinstein's shared history in their home state.)

Still, Roberts acknowledged that the situation Feinstein faces -- a junior member of the intel committee being told of a pending nomination before the chairman -- never occurred during his time at the helm.

Roberts and Panetta are old friends from their days on the House administration committee, and the bond of shared congressional service runs deep -- which could help win Panetta several Republican votes. But on the deeper issues of operational knowledge of the CIA and antipathy to Bush-era interrogation tactics, Panetta also gets Roberts' nod.

"I know this job entails protection of civil liberties as well as protecting America," Roberts told me, seeming to acknowledge Panetta's staunch criticism of the Bush intelligence record. "Leon's the kind of guy who's very pragmatic. He'll do what's best for the country."

When he became chairman, Roberts said, his first order of business was visiting each of the 16 agencies that comprise the US intelligence world. "My advice to him would be ... to pay a courtesy call," Roberts said of Panetta.

Just talked with Dianne Feinstein outside the Senate chamber about her qualms with the Leon Panetta nomination. The incoming Senate intelligence committee chairman said that both President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden called her after the fact to discuss the surprise choice of Panetta, who has no direct intelligence agency experience and whose nomination came as unwelcome news to Feinstein when it broke yesterday.

"I understand their thinking" in choosing Panetta, Feinstein explained, describing herself as "very respectful of the president's authority ... this is the man [Obama has chosen]."

I asked Feinstein whether her reticence about Panetta's lack of ties to the CIA would be mitigated by having Steven Kappes, her preferred choice for CIA director, stay on as the agency's No 2. "I believe very strongly" that Kappes should stay, Feinstein said, adding that Panetta's standing would be "very much enhanced" were Kappes to stay his deputy.

Feinstein seemed to acknowledge the Obama team's desire to find a CIA director who would signal an end to the abusive interrogation tactics of the Bush years. "We all want a break with the past," she told the reporters milling around her in the Senate. "I was the one who went into the conference committee" between the House and the Senate last year with an amendment that would use the Army Field Manual as the universal standard for detainee interrogations, she added.

"I understand the administration's desire to cut clean and open a new chapter and I support that. Whether those changes can be made" with Panetta at the helm, she added, remains to be seen.

* Late Grammar Update: As two eagle-eyed readers have pointed out, "reticence" suggests an unwillingness to discuss an issue, which the senator from California certainly was not. The proper term is indeed "hesitance".

Just spoke to Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-OR) office, where a spokeswoman confirmed what was hinted at this morning: Wyden had been in contact with the Obama transition team to discuss the Leon Panetta nomination, while incoming Senate intelligence chairman Dianne Feinstein was still in the dark.

We checked in with Wyden because Bloomberg's report described him as "being consulted" on the choice -- whether he was consulted by the Obama camp or by Panetta, a former ally of Wyden's from their days in the House, remained unclear.

But now that we know Wyden had talked to the Obama transition, two questions arise:

1. Who else on Senate intel knew about it before Feinstein, whose support for AG Michael Mukasey had aroused the ire of many progressives?

2. Is this a case of the New York Times getting the news before the transition could inform Feinstein ... or a case of a powerful senator kept in the dark on purpose?

Evan Bayh (D-IN), a member of the Senate intelligence committee, just reiterated his support for the Leon Panetta nomination at CIA -- with a telling addition.

Bayh vowed to support Panetta, whose unexpected selection has opened a schism among Senate Democrats. But he also hailed the skills of Steve Kappes, the current CIA No 2 who is reportedly Dianne Feinstein and Jay Rockefeller's preferred pick to lead the agency. Here's Bayh's statement:

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On the Rachel Maddow show last night, Senate intelligence committee member Evan Bayh (D-IN) professed no objections to the choice of Leon Panetta to head the Obama CIA.

"Leon Panetta is an outstanding public servant and I intend to support his nomination," Bayh said. So we have Dianne Feinstein, the panel's incoming chairman, expressing her discontent with the nomination, alongside outgoing chairman Jay Rockefeller.

But two other Senate intel committee members -- progressive Ron Wyden and the, uh, less progressive Bayh -- remain copacetic.

The plot is thickened by Feinstein's revealing that the Obama transition team did not consult her in advance on the Panetta nomination before letting it slip yesterday. Wyden, on the other hand, appears to have known in advance. Who on the panel was consulted and who was left in the dark? We haven't yet heard from Russ Feingold and Sheldon Whitehouse, senators who are both stalwart progressives on intelligence issues. But we'll update you as soon as more committee members tip their hand.

Several outlets are reporting this afternoon that Leon Panetta, former chief of staff to Bill Clinton, is Obama's pick to head the CIA.

Panetta is considered more of a budget expert than an intelligence specialist, but he has a strong progressive background and has eloquently argued against Bush era spying tactics. Panetta also served on the Iraq Study Group in 2006 and formerly chaired the Center for National Policy.

We have calls in to the Obama transition office as well as the Panetta Institute, his current home at California State University, and will update as soon as we hear more.

Late Update: Despite Panetta's lack of nitty-gritty intel experience, his selection is a welcome sign after some reports that current CIA chief Mike Hayden might be asked to stay on. Panetta's fiscal expertise could mean good things for the long-neglected task of intelligence spending reform, a herculean task that involves merging competing fiefdoms of powerful lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee.

It also appears that Dennis Blair, the naval admiral long tipped to become Director of National Intelligence, will be unveiled as a nominee alongside Panetta.