Official estimates claim they have killed nearly 2,600 вЂњterroristsвЂќ, though human rights activists consider that to be an undercount. вЂњMaybe on the left no one would believe that Trump has a steady hand, but Obama has normalized the idea that presidents get to have secret large-scale killing programs at their disposal,вЂќ said Naureen Shah of Amnesty International USA.Д«egun under George W Bush, drone strikes were vastly accelerated and codified by Obama beyond officially declared war zones.

The authoritative record of NPRвЂ™s programming is the audio record.While the White House considers its standards for drone strikes to be scrupulous, much of the rest of the world considers them to represent an arbitrary, secret and dangerous apparatus of secret killing that Trump will soon have at his disposal. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor.

Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. David Welna, NPR News, Washington.Д¬opyright В© 2017 NPR. WELNA: And the CIA, Anders adds, most certainly does not. And the Defense Department fits into that category. He says the CIA has the legal ability to carry out drone strikes secretly and to deny they ever happened.ДЄNDERS: In a constitutional system of checks and balances, you want something like the power to take life in massive ways to be with institutions that are accountable to other parts of the government, certainly accountable to Congress, accountable to the White House, accountable to courts. WELNA: Christopher Anders is a deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union. WELNA: One critic of giving the CIA authority to carry out drone strikes, says McCain and other members of Congress, have a hard time knowing what was going on with any strikes not carried out by the military.Д¬HRISTOPHER ANDERS: They have a very, very hard time finding out the truth of what's taking place when it's being done by the CIA. JOHN MCCAIN: I am for giving the commanders in the field more latitude in what they think is best to base their decisions on. WELNA: Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain was among those who pushed hard for drone strikes to be limited to the military, but McCain now says the Obama administration put too many restrictions on the military and wants the armed forces to act with more autonomy. And so going back to the CIA being able to take these actions separately from DOD I think is a mistake. TIM KAINE: I supported the Obama policy of trying to unify these strikes which are military under the DOD rather than under the intel agency. Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine says the Obama administration limited drone strikes to military operations. WELNA: Title 10 refers to military operations, but drone strikes had in the past been done under Title 50, which covers covert and intelligence operations. But the CIA has tools in their toolbox that go further than Title 10, DOD. I want to make sure that any drone strike people are accountable, you know, for authorizing the strike, concern about collateral damage. GRAHAM: I want to go after the enemy as aggressively as I can. WELNA: That's South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham. LINDSEY GRAHAM: I'm OK with the CIA being back in the drone business. WELNA: But another senator welcomed the CIA's reported return to carrying out drone strikes.

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: I'd want to scrutinize very closely any change in the rules of engagement involving drones. WELNA: Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal for his part said he understands there is indeed an effort underway to broaden the use of drone strikes. This is an issue that I've been involved with, but I'm not going to comment on strikes by any particular government agency. He was a bit more forthcoming about what is clearly a touchy subject.ДЄNGUS KING: The new president has authorized some expansion. Maine Independent Angus King also sits on both committees. He's also a member of the secretive Intelligence Committee which oversees the CIA. WELNA: That's New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich. MARTIN HEINRICH: I can't comment on that. NPR's David Welna has the story.ДAVID WELNA, BYLINE: Not every senator I approached was ready to talk about the CIA being put back in the business of carrying out drone strikes. The Obama administration took that ability away from the CIA and gave it to the Pentagon.

The Wall Street Journal reports that one of the Trump administration's first acts was to authorize the CIA's use of drones to carry out targeted strikes against suspected terrorists. As senators left that hearing this morning, some weighed in on another military development.

Trump drone strikes