Washington ? The general presumed to be President Bush’s choice to head the CIA could be in for a tough confirmation process, leading Republicans and Democrats said Sunday.

At issue for Republicans is whether a career military man like Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden should head the agency at this time.

“Bottom line, I do believe he’s the wrong person, the wrong place, at the wrong time,” Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We should not have a military person leading a civilian agency at this time.”

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., a Senate Intelligence Committee member, echoed him, telling ABC’s “This Week” that Hayden is respected but his military standing could be tough for Congress to accept.

“I think the fact that he is part of the military today would be the major problem,” he said. “Now, just resigning commission and moving on, putting on a pinstriped suit versus an Air Force uniform, I don’t think makes much difference.”

It is expected that Bush will announce this week that he wants Hayden to replace Porter Goss, who resigned as CIA director last week.

Two prominent senators – Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa. – said a Hayden nomination would give them a chance to learn more about the controversial domestic eavesdropping program, which was overseen by Hayden at the National Security Agency.

“His nomination will give us an opportunity to try to find out about what the program is,” Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Fox. “It’s my responsibility … to see that what is going on is constitutional, and we haven’t been able to do that.”

The White House likely would welcome debate over the NSA program, which has been one of the few issues to poll well for it recently.