WASHINGTON -- The White House yesterday moved quickly to defuse concern over the nomination of Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden for CIA director, promising to balance the leadership of the nation's premier civilian spy agency with a well-known and popular veteran of the organization in the No. 2 position.

In a highly unorthodox move, the White House disclosed the plan shortly after President Bush's formal announcement of Gen. Hayden's nomination in the Oval Office, in hopes of reassuring those worried about too much military influence over the intelligence community.

Under the plan, Vice Adm. Albert M. Calland III would be replaced as deputy director by retired Central Intelligence Agency official Stephen R. Kappes, who quit in November 2004 in a dispute with then-Director Porter J. Goss.

The move was seen as a direct repudiation of Mr. Goss' leadership and as an olive branch to CIA veterans disaffected by his 18-month tenure, during which many other senior officials followed Mr. Kappes out the door. The White House was so eager to get out the news of Mr. Kappes' likely appointment that it was announced from the lectern in the briefing room, even though the Senate must confirm Gen. Hayden, and Mr. Kappes has not yet been officially nominated.

Other Goss lieutenants at the agency also appear to be on the way out, following Mr. Goss, who resigned Friday. Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, brought in by Mr. Goss as the agency's executive director, announced to agency staff in an e-mail yesterday that he plans to resign as well. The FBI said it is investigating whether Mr. Foggo steered contracts to a friend, contractor Brent R. Wilkes. The CIA confirmed last week that Mr. Foggo attended private poker games with Mr. Wilkes at a Washington hotel.

The moves are part of a concerted effort by the president's team to recover ground after several key Republicans expressed reservations over the weekend about Gen. Hayden's then-prospective nomination, citing his military background and involvement in the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic surveillance.

Most damaging to the White House was criticism by House intelligence committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., who called Gen. Hayden "the wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Without naming Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Bush appeared to directly rebut him yesterday while appearing with Gen. Hayden before cameras in the Oval Office. "He's the right man to lead the CIA at this critical moment in our nation's history," the president said.

Mr. Bush also reached out to the skeptical CIA workforce, which has gone through years of tumult since the failure to stop the Sept. 11, 2001, domestic terror attacks and the flawed assessments of Iraq's weapons programs. "In Mike Hayden, the men and women of the CIA will have a strong leader who will support them," Mr. Bush said.

Gen. Hayden, wearing a his blue Air Force uniform with four stars on the shoulders, also tried to reassure the civilian spies: "If confirmed, I would be honored to join you and work with so many good friends. Your achievements are frequently underappreciated and hidden from the public eye, but you know what you do to protect the republic."

The CIA has had several military officers as its director, but none in the past 25 years, and Gen. Hayden's nomination comes at a time when Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has moved aggressively to expand the Pentagon's intelligence operations.

Gen. Hayden's nomination has also reignited debate over the legality of the secret NSA eavesdropping without court approval on phone calls and e-mail between the United States and overseas in cases when one participant is suspected of terrorist ties. The NSA program, begun in late 2001, emerged as a hot political issue last December, when The New York Times first revealed its existence.

Democrats and civil libertarians have attacked the wiretaps program, under which the NSA, without court warrants, monitors phone conversations and e-mail traffic of suspected terrorists communicating with people inside the United States. Critics charged that the administration could use it to illegally spy on U.S. citizens.

The program has also drawn fire from some Republicans, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who said the Hayden nomination might give him a renewed chance to investigate whether it violates constitutional protections of privacy.

Despite the concerns expressed by some lawmakers over the weekend, Gen. Hayden received a warm reception yesterday in the place it matters most -- the Senate intelligence committee, which will handle his confirmation hearings. Committee Republicans either fully embraced him or, at worst, reserved judgment, and a key Democrat said she expects to support Hayden and assumes he will be confirmed.

"He's going to surround himself with professional people," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told reporters. "The Gosslings are going," she added, referring to Mr. Goss' close coterie of aides installed at the Langley, Va., headquarters. "Rumsfeld wanted to control the NSA, and to his credit, Hayden stood up."

Still, even if Gen. Hayden is confirmed, several senators, including Republicans, made clear that they intend to use the process to examine issues such as the NSA surveillance, the civilian-military balance and other matters. "While I am not opposed to his nomination, senators, including myself, will have important questions which they will want addressed prior to any confirmation vote," Senate intelligence committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said.

But the apparent decision to name Mr. Kappes as Gen. Hayden's deputy resonated powerfully within the CIA and may ease resistance by the agency. A low-key former Marine and 23-year CIA veteran who served in the Near East, South Asia and Europe, Mr. Kappes had risen to chief of the agency's clandestine service and was seen as a future director.

But Mr. Kappes clashed immediately with Patrick Murray, the former Capitol Hill aide whom Mr. Goss installed as his CIA chief of staff. After a month on the job, Mr. Murray demanded that Mr. Kappes fire his deputy, Michael Sulick, for challenging Mr. Murray's authority. Mr. Kappes refused, and he and Mr. Sulick resigned, triggering an unprecedented flood of resignations that the president's advisory board on intelligence this year blamed on Mr. Goss.

Mr. Kappes' appointment was seen among former and current CIA officers as a sign that Gen. Hayden will embrace professionals once again.