CIA Director John Brennan has previously lobbied lawmakers against the bill. | AFP/Getty CIA's Brennan: It's 'hard to believe' senators defied Obama on Saudi 9/11 bill

CIA Director John Brennan on Wednesday expressed dismay at the Senate’s vote to override President Barack Obama’s veto of legislation allowing families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia, saying such a move is a "dangerous slippery slope."

Brennan, speaking at the Washington Ideas Forum, said he finds it “hard to believe” a large number of senators supported the override when many of them understand the impact on U.S. national security interests.


Critics of the legislation, including Obama administration officials, have argued that foreign governments view the measure as an effort to undermine their sovereignty immunity, and they add it could seriously damage the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Brennan, who has lobbied lawmakers against the bill, said on Wednesday that everyone recognizes that the emotions associated with the 2001 attacks are “still quite palpable.” But he said the 9/11 commission’s report found no evidence that the Saudi government was responsible for the attacks, and that the downsides of the legislation outweigh its benefits.

“I think is a very, very dangerous slippery slope that we are going to get on. Foreign governments are going to start to pass similar types of legislation that is going to haul the United States into court overseas, even for the most frivolous of charges and allegations for what the U.S. -- the United States -- has done overseas,” Brennan said.

The Senate voted 97-1 in support of the measure, known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, and the House is expected to easily clinch the two-thirds vote needed to override a presidential veto.

It would be the first successful veto override of Obama’s presidency.