The man tapped by President Bush to head the CIA could face confirmation problems, U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel said Thursday.

Hagel’s prediction comes amid news that a government spy agency secretly collected information on Americans’ phone calls.

The Nebraska Republican said during a phone-in news conference that Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden will have to answer hard questions about the National Security Agency’s efforts to build a database of every call made within the country.

Hayden headed the NSA from March 1999 to April 2005 and would have overseen the call-tracking program.

“This is going to make it a little more difficult for General Hayden,” said Hagel, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who added that he had not known about the NSA effort.

“He obviously was right in the middle of it — maybe structured it,” Hagel said. “It doesn’t surprise me that General Hayden’s meetings have been canceled today.”