WASHINGTON – Despite open hostility from several senior senators, President Bush’s nominee for director of Central Intelligence, General Michael Hayden, looks likely to make it through confirmation hearings in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He faces more criticism in the House, whose members face re-election in November.

Although committee members were hesitant about expressing their support for General Hayden yesterday, few Democrats offered serious reservations to his nomination, and several Republicans expressed wholehearted support. There was a widespread feeling, however, that General Hayden might smooth his passage through the committee if he were to resign from the military.

“General Hayden is more than qualified for the position of CIA director,” Senator Bond, a Republican of Missouri, said. “The job of CIA director is to track down and stop terrorists. That’s exactly what General Hayden has been doing. His exemplary military background and his recent assignment running America’s ‘early warning’ terrorist surveillance system are clear strengths that only highlight the critical intelligence experience that [he] brings to the CIA. I look forward to the confirmation process, but see no evidence that General Hayden is anything but highly qualified for the position.”

Senator Lott, a Republican of Mississippi, offered similar praises. “General Hayden is smart and well-qualified, with a lot of good experience. I look forward to the Senate Intelligence Committee hearings, but my inclination is to support him.”

Senator Hagel, a Republican of Nebraska, said through a spokesman that Mr. Hagel likes General Hayden, but has some questions about the National Security Agency wiretapping program – which General Hayden oversaw in his earlier role as NSA director – and will wait until the hearings to reach a final determination.

Among Democrats on the committee, Senator Bayh,a Democrat of Indiana, remarked that “the question the upcoming hearings need to answer is whether General Hayden is the right man to bring necessary change to the CIA.”

Like Mr. Bayh, Senator Wyden, a Democrat of Oregon, raised no substantive objections to General Hayden’s nomination.

Senator Feingold, a Democrat of Wisconsin, was the committee’s most outspoken critic of General Hayden. In a statement published on his Web site two days before Mr. Bush announced the nomination, Mr. Feingold said, “I am concerned by reports that the President may nominate General Michael Hayden … [who] directed and subsequently defended the President’s illegal wiretapping program … I will expect any nominee for this position to be committed to the rule of law and respectful of Congress’s oversight responsibility.”

Senator Feinstein, a Democrat of California, shared Mr. Feingold’s disapproval for the wiretapping program, and expressed her concern “about the military control of intelligence.” She suggested, “it would be good for General Hayden to resign his commission so that a civilian was in charge of the CIA.”

But Ms. Feinstein also expressed her admiration for the nominee. “We need a respected, competent intelligence professional who can command respect and manage this growing agency,” she said. “Based on what I know so far, General Michael Hayden appears to fit that bill.”

Senator Mikulski, a Democrat of Maryland, echoed the concerns of her Democratic colleagues, but added that she has “enormous respect for [Hayden] … He is competent, candid, and has a spirit of reform,” a remark that summarizes Senate opinion of him.

General Hayden’s House critics have been more vocal with their disagreement.The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a Republican of Michigan, and several other Republicans expressed their belief that General Hayden should resign from the military prior to assuming a post at the CIA, but none has expressed disapproval in the nominee himself.

On balance, General Hayden’s confirmation prospects look good, and independent observers have high estimations of him.

The dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, James Steinberg, formerly of the Brookings Institution, said, “I know Mike very well. I think he is a very smart, independent-minded guy who’s not afraid to speak up even and challenge people above him.”

“I think one of his great successes is that even though he sort of nominally worked for Secretary Rumsfeld when he was at NSA, he was willing to take independent stands and I think in his current job, he’s really been open-minded and creative in thinking about what the new needs of the intelligence community are,” Mr. Steinberg said.

“I know he’s given a lot of thought to where the CIA fits in the middle of this, so he’s well qualified and up to speed to take this on quickly, because the agency is in near-freefall right now, and it really needs someone who can reverse course dramatically and get things up and running again.”

But, like Mr. Hoekstra, Ms. Feinstein, Ms. Mikulski, and others, Mr. Steinberg expressed concerns over General Hayden’s military status. “It probably would be better if he took on the job [after resigning] as an active duty officer.”