Director of National Intelligence

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Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox official post

The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a cabinet-level United States government intelligence and security official. The position is required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) and to direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program (NIP). All 18 IC agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), report directly to the DNI. Other federal agencies with intelligence capabilities also report to the DNI, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The DNI also serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council on all intelligence matters. The DNI, supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), produces the President's Daily Brief, a highly classified document including intelligence from all IC agencies, shared each morning with the president of the United States.<ref>"CIA to Cede President's Brief to Negroponte", February 19, 2005, The Washington Post</ref> The DNI, who is appointed by the president of the United States and is subject to confirmation by the United States Senate, serves at the pleasure of the president.

President George W. Bush strengthened the role of the DNI on July 30, 2008, with Executive Order 13470,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which, among other things, solidified the DNI's legal authority to direct intelligence gathering and analysis, and to set policy for intelligence sharing with foreign agencies and for the hiring and firing of senior intelligence officials.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The DNI was given further responsibility for the entire IC's whistleblowing and source protection by President Barack Obama via Presidential Policy Directive 19 on October 10, 2012.

The position was elevated to a cabinet-level role during the first presidency of Donald Trump and retained this status in subsequent administrations. Currently, the DNI attends all cabinet meetings and liaises with the executive office of the president and other Cabinet secretaries in the execution of their duties. President Donald Trump nominated Tulsi Gabbard to the position in 2025, and she was subsequently confirmed by the US Senate on February 12, 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

History

Founding

Before the DNI was formally established, the head of the United States Intelligence Community was the director of central intelligence (DCI), who concurrently served as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The 9/11 Commission recommended establishing the DNI position in its 9/11 Commission Report, not released until July 22, 2004, as it had identified major intelligence failures that called into question how well the intelligence community was able to protect U.S. interests against foreign terrorist attacks.

Senators Dianne Feinstein, Jay Rockefeller and Bob Graham introduced S. 2645 on June 19, 2002, to create the position of Director of National Intelligence. Other similar legislation soon followed. After considerable debate on the scope of the DNI's powers and authorities, the United States Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 by votes of 336–75 in the House of Representatives, and 89–2 in the Senate. President George Bush signed the bill into law on December 17, 2004. Among other things, the law established the DNI position as the designated leader of the United States Intelligence Community and prohibited the DNI from serving as the CIA director or the head of any other intelligence community element at the same time. In addition, the law required the CIA Director to report their agency's activities to the DNI.

Critics say compromises during the bill's crafting led to the establishment of a DNI whose powers are too weak to adequately lead, manage and improve the performance of the intelligence community.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In particular, the law left the United States Department of Defense in charge of the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

Under Template:UnitedStatesCode, "under ordinary circumstances, it is desirable" that either the director or the principal deputy director of national intelligence be an active-duty commissioned officer in the armed forces or have training or experience in military intelligence activities and requirements. Only one of the two positions can be held by a military officer at any given time. The statute does not specify what rank the commissioned officer will hold during their tenure in either position.

Appointments

The first director of national intelligence was former U.S. ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte who was appointed on February 17, 2005, by President George W. Bush, subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. It was reported that President Bush's first choice for DNI was former director of central intelligence Robert M. Gates, who was serving as president of Texas A&M University, but who declined the offer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Negroponte was confirmed by a Senate vote of 98–2 on April 21, 2005, and he was sworn in by President Bush the same day.

On February 13, 2007, Mike McConnell became the second director of national intelligence, after Negroponte was appointed Deputy Secretary of State. Donald M. Kerr was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence on October 4, 2007, and sworn in on October 9, 2007. Kerr, from Virginia, was previously the director of the National Reconnaissance Office and the deputy director for science and technology at the CIA before that. Earlier in his career, he was an assistant director at the FBI, in charge of their Laboratory Division from 1997 to 2001.

On January 29, 2009, retired Navy admiral Dennis C. Blair became the third DNI on after being nominated by newly inaugurated President Barack Obama.<ref>ODNI, Biography Template:Webarchive, January 30, 2009</ref> President Obama dismissed Blair whose resignation became effective May 28, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On July 20, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated retired Air Force lieutenant general James Clapper as the fourth DNI. Clapper was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 5, and replaced acting director David C. Gompert.

The fifth DNI, Dan Coats, the sixth DNI, John Ratcliffe, and acting DNIs Joseph Maguire, Richard Grenell and Lora Shiao, all served between March 16, 2017, and January 21, 2021, during the first administration of President Donald Trump.

The seventh DNI is Avril Haines, who took office on January 21, 2021. The first woman to hold the office, she was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden on November 23, 2020<ref name="nom1">Template:Cite news</ref> and confirmed by the Senate on January 20, 2021.<ref name="nom2">Template:Cite news</ref> She resigned January 20, 2025 at the conclusion of Joe Biden's term in office.

On November 13, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Army Reserve lieutenant colonel Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence upon returning to the presidency in January 2025. Gabbard was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 12, 2025, replacing acting director Lora Shiao. With this appointment, she became the first female military combat veteran to serve as DNI and first Pacific Islander American and first Hindu American in this position as well as to hold a Cabinet-level position.<ref name ="IT-DNI-1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="apnews.com2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Website issues

Declan McCullagh at News.com wrote on August 24, 2007, that the DNI site was configured to repel all search engines to index any page at DNI.gov. This effectively made the DNI website invisible to all search engines and in turn, any search queries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ross Feinstein, Spokesman for the DNI, said that the cloaking was removed as of September 3, 2007. "We're not even sure how (the robots.txt file) got there"Template:Sndbut it was again somehow hidden the next day. On September 7, McCullagh reported that the DNI appeared to be open to web searches again.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Reform initiatives

In September 2007, the Office of the DNI released "Intelligence Community 100 Day & 500 Day Plans for Integration & Collaboration". These plans include a series of initiatives designed to build the foundation for increased cooperation and reform of the U.S. Intelligence Community.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Office of the Director of National Intelligence

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 established the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as an independent agency to assist the DNI. The ODNI's goal is to effectively integrate foreign, military and domestic intelligence in defense of the homeland and of United States interests abroad.<ref name="Organization of the DNI">Template:Cite web</ref> The ODNI has about 1,750 employees.<ref name="e-Magazine">Template:Cite web</ref> Its headquarters are in McLean, Virginia.

On March 23, 2007, DNI Mike McConnell announced organizational changes, which included:

  • Elevating Acquisition to a new Deputy DNI position
  • Creating a new Deputy DNI for Policy, Plans, and Requirements (replacing the Deputy DNI for Requirements position)
  • Establishing an Executive Committee
  • Designating the Chief of Staff position as the new Director of the Intelligence Staff

The ODNI continued to evolve under succeeding directors, culminating in an organization focused on intelligence integration across the community.Template:Citation needed

Organization

The ODNI leadership includes the director, principal deputy director and chief operating officer.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, the Director of Defense Intelligence reports to the DNI.

There are two directorates, each led by a deputy director of National Intelligence:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

There are five mission centers, each led by a director of that center:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

There are also four oversight offices:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Organization seals

United States Intelligence Community

Template:Main

United States Intelligence Community
Name Parent Organization
FBI Intelligence Branch (IB) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Independent agency
National Security Agency (NSA) Department of Defense
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Department of Defense
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Department of Defense
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Department of Defense
National Space Intelligence Center Space Force
National Air and Space Intelligence Center Air Force
Military Intelligence Corps Army
Office of Naval Intelligence Navy
Coast Guard Intelligence Coast Guard
Marine Corps Intelligence Marine Corps
Office of National Security Intelligence Drug Enforcement Administration
Office of Intelligence and Analysis Department of Homeland Security
Bureau of Intelligence and Research Department of State
Office of Intelligence and Analysis Department of the Treasury
Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence Department of Energy

Line of succession

The line of succession for the director of national intelligence is as follows:<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

  1. Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
  2. Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration
  3. Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
  4. Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center
  5. Inspector General of the Intelligence Community

Lists of personnel

List of directors

Position succeeded the director of central intelligence.

Template:Legend
No. Image Name Start End Duration President(s)
1 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2001–2009)
2 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
– Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd rowspan=4 style="background:Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2009–2017)
3 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
– Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
4 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
– Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd rowspan=5 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2017–2021)
5 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
– Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
– Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
6 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
– Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2021–2025)
7 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
– Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2025–present)
– Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
8 Template:Sortname Template:Dts Incumbent Template:Ayd

List of principal deputy directors of national intelligence

Name Term of office President(s) served under
Michael Hayden April 21, 2005 – May 26, 2006 George W. Bush
Ronald L. Burgess Jr.
Acting 		June 2006 – October 5, 2007
Donald Kerr October 5, 2007 – January 20, 2009
Ronald L. Burgess Jr.
Acting 		January 20, 2009 – February 2009 Barack Obama
David C. Gompert November 10, 2009 – February 11, 2011
Stephanie O'Sullivan February 18, 2011 – January 20, 2017
Susan M. Gordon August 7, 2017 – August 15, 2019 Donald Trump
Andrew P. HallmanTemplate:Ref
Acting 		October 30, 2019 – February 21, 2020
Kash Patel February 21, 2020 – May 13, 2020
Neil WileyTemplate:Ref May 13, 2020 – February 2021 Donald Trump, Joe Biden
Stacey Dixon August 4, 2021 – January 25, 2025<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Joe Biden, Donald Trump
Aaron Lukas July 24, 2025 - Incumbent <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Donald Trump
a.Template:Note

List of chief operating officers

Name Term of office President(s) served under
Deirdre Walsh February 2018 – May 2020 Donald Trump
Lora Shiao October 2020 – present Donald Trump, Joe Biden

List of directors of the intelligence staff / chief management officer

Name Term of office President(s) served under
Ronald L. Burgess Jr. May 2007 – February 2009 George W. Bush, Barack Obama
John Kimmons February 2009 – October 2010 Barack Obama
Mark EwingTemplate:Citation needed November 2010 – n/a Barack Obama, Donald Trump

List of inspectors general

Name Term of office President(s) served under
Charles McCullough October 7, 2010 – March 2017<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Barack Obama, Donald Trump
Michael Atkinson May 17, 2018 – May 3, 2020<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Donald Trump
Thomas Monheim April 3, 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="govexec.com">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Ref – January 3, 2025 Donald Trump, Joe Biden
a.Template:Note

List of deputy directors of national intelligence

Name Office Term of office President(s) served under
William P. Ruger Mission Integration April 2025<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> – present Donald Trump
Beth Sanner Mission Integration May 2019<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> – March 2021 Donald Trump, Joe Biden
Kevin Meiners<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Enterprise Capacity n/a – present Donald Trump
Karen Gibson National Security Partnerships April 2019<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> – 2020 Donald Trump
Corin Stone<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Strategy & Engagement n/a – present Donald Trump

Assistant directors of national intelligence

Name Office Term of Office President(s) served under
Dr. Ronald Sanders ADNI for Human Capital June 2005 - March 2010 George W. Bush, Barack Obama
Deborah Kircher ADNI for Human Capital October 2011<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> – present Barack Obama, Donald Trump
John Sherman Intelligence Community Chief Information Officer September 2017<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> – June 2020<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Donald Trump
Trey Treadwell<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Chief Financial Officer n/a – present Donald Trump
Catherine Johnston ADNI for Systems and Resource Analyses May 2018<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> – present Donald Trump
Roy Pettis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ADNI for Acquisition, Procurement and Facilities n/a – present Donald Trump
James Smith<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ADNI for Policy and Strategy (Acting) n/a – present Donald Trump

See also

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References

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Further reading

Template:Intelligence agencies of USA Template:DNI Template:Defense Intelligence Agency Template:War on Terror

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