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The '''Director of National Intelligence''' ('''DNI''') is the United States government  official subject to the authority, direction and control of the President of the United States of America|President who is responsible under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 for:
The '''Director of National Intelligence''' ('''DNI''') is appointed by the [[President of the United States of America]], subject to approval by the [[U.S. Senate]].  While the Director of National Intelligence is a cabinet-level position, its office-holder is not automatically a member of the president's cabinet (but could be invited by a given president to cabinet membership for that term).  The DNI heads the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), headquartered in McLean, Virginia (a suburb of [[Washington, D.C.]]).  As of 2024, the Office has about 1750 employees.  The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created in 2004 by the ''Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act''<ref name=Law />  One of the main functions of the ODNI is to produce the President's Daily Brief, a classified document including intelligence from all the different U.S. intelligence agencies, that is handed each morning to the President.<ref name=WPost /><ref name=WPedia />
* Serving as the principal adviser to the President of the United States of America|President, the National Security Council|National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters related to the national security;
* Serving as the head of the sixteen-member United States Intelligence Community (IC); and
* Overseeing and directing the National Intelligence Program.
Admiral Dennis Blair was confirmed on January 28, 2009, but James Clapper was confirmed as his replacement in August 2010.


As was the case when the CIA headed the IC, the Director and Principal Deputy Director cannot both be active-duty military officers. A difference is that the Congress expressed a desire that one either be a military intelligence officer, usually of four-star rank, or have extensive experience in military intelligence. {{UnitedStatesCode|50|403-3a}}
Prior to 2004, the U.S. intelligence community's head was called the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and was simultaneously head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  The 2004 law abolished the DCI position and created instead the "Director of the CIA" office which is subordinate to the Director of National Intelligence who, however, lacks full budgetary authority over the intelligence agencies of the [[U.S. Department of Defense]].<ref name=NoBudget />  This is the main reason that critics say that the DNI's powers are too weak adequately to improve the cooperation of U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref>{{cite news | last=Kaplan | first=Fred | title=You Call That a Reform Bill? | date=7 December 2004 | publisher=Slate Magazine| url=http://www.slate.com/id/2110767/}}</ref>  Monitoring the implementation of this Act is a responsibility of the [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]] and the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]].
== Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) ==
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 has about 1,500 employees. The National Counterterrorism Center is a major organization within the ODNI.


On March 23, 2007, DNI Mike McConnell announced organizational changes, which include:
==References==
*elevating acquisition to a new Deputy DNI position
<references>
*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.
<ref>[http://www.dni.gov/who_what/061222_DNIHandbook_Final.pdf 07-0224 DNIHandbook.indd<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.dni.gov/who_what/061222_DNIHandbook_Final.pdf 07-0224 DNIHandbook.indd<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite news
| last=Pincus
| first=Walter
| title=An Admonition on Intelligence
| work=The Washington Post
| date=2007-02-26
| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/25/AR2007022501099.html
| accessdate=2007-03-24
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| last=Negroponte
| first=John
| authorlink=John Negroponte
| title=Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Intelligence Community Policy Memorandum Number 2006-200-2
| date=2006-05-08
| url=http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/icpm/2006-200-2.pdf
| format=PDF
| accessdate=2007-03-24
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| title=ODNI Announces Senior Leadership Positions, ODNI News Release No. 5-05
| url=http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20051031_release.htm
| date=2005-10-31
| accessdate=2007-03-24
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| last=Negroponte
| first=John
| authorlink=John Negroponte
| title=Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Intelligence Community Policy Memorandum Number 2005-200-1
| date=2005-11-09
| url=http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/icpm/2005-200-1.pdf
| format=PDF
| accessdate=2007-03-24
}}</ref>


==100 Day/500 Day Plans==
<ref name=WPost>
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36532-2005Feb18.html "CIA to Cede President's Brief to Negroponte"], February 19, 2005, ''The Washington Post''
</ref>


The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has 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>http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20070913_release.pdf</ref>
<ref name=WPedia>
Wikipedia's extensive [[Wikipedia:Director of National Intelligence|article about the DNI]] has many more details and a list of all its office holders.
</ref>


==History==
<ref name=Law>
Prior to establishment of the DNI, the head of the United States Intelligence Community was the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). The DCI concurrently served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The ''Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004'' (Public Law 108-458) was created because of the perception that the various U.S. Intelligence agencies had not shared information adequately to prevent the 2001 [[9-11 Attack]], even though enough information likely existed in various pockets here and there to have understood the threat.  The new law also moved some community-related functions from the CIA to the ODNI, and specified that the Director and Principal Deputy Director of the new agency cannot both be active-duty military officers (i.e., one or the other should be a military intelligence officer, usually of four-star rank, or have extensive experience in military intelligence).
</ref>


Establishment of the DNI position was one of the recommendations in the 9/11 Commission Report|report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States|9/11 Commission investigating the 9/11|September 11 attacks.  The report, which was released on  July 22, 2004, identified major intelligence failures that called into question how well the Intelligence Community protected US national and homeland security interests against attacks by foreign terrorists.
<ref name=NoBudget>
The 2004 law establishing the ODNI left the Department of Defense in charge of the budget for the [[National Security Agency]], the [[National Reconnaissance Office]], and the [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]].
</ref>


Soon thereafter Senators Dianne Feinstein, John D. Rockefeller IV and Bob Graham introduced legislation to create a Director of National Intelligence, S. 2645, introduced on June 19, 2002.  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 U.S. House of Representatives|House of Representatives, and 89-2 in the United States Senate|Senate. President George W. 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" his 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 US Intelligence Community.<ref>{{cite news | last=Kaplan | first=Fred | title=You Call That a Reform Bill? | date=7 December 2004 | publisher=Slate Magazine| url=http://www.slate.com/id/2110767/}}</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. (The limited DNI role in leading the US Intelligence Community is discussed in the United States Intelligence Community|Intelligence Community article.)


On February 17, 2005, President George W. Bush named U.S. Ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte to the post, pending United States Senate#Appointments|confirmation by the Senate. It was reported that President Bush's first choice for Director of National Intelligence was former Director of Central Intelligence Robert M. Gates, who was serving as president of Texas A&M University; however, Gates declined the offer.<ref>CNN.com (2005) [http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/17/intelligence.chief/index.html Bush names Negroponte intelligence chief]. Retrieved May 14, 2006.</ref> Negroponte was confirmed by a Senate vote of 98 to 2 in favor of his appointment on April 21, 2005, and was sworn in by President Bush on that day.
</references>
 
On February 13, 2007, Negroponte was sworn in as Deputy Secretary of State, and John Michael McConnell became the 2nd Director of National Intelligence.
 
==Directors of National Intelligence==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Name
! image
! start
! end
! President of the United States of America|President(s) served under
! notes
|-
| [[John Negroponte]]
|[[File:John Negroponte official portrait.jpg|100px]]
| 2005-04-21
| 2007-02-13
| [[George W. Bush]]
|-
| [[John McConnell]]
| [[File:Mike McConnell, official ODNI photo portrait (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| 2007-02-13
| 2009-01-28
| [[George W. Bush]]
|-
| [[Dennis Blair]]
| [[File:Dennis Blair official Director of National Intelligence portrait (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| 2009-01-27
| 2010-08-05
| [[Barack Obama]]
|-
| [[David Gompert]]
| [[File:David Gompert official portrait (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| 2010-05-28
| 2010-08-05
| [[Barack Obama]]
| Acting
|-
| [[James Clapper]]
| [[File:James R. Clapper official portrait (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| 2010-08-05
| 2017-01-20
| [[Barack Obama]]
|-
| [[Michael Dempsey]]
| [[File:Michael Dempsey (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| 2017-01-20
| 2017-03-16
| [[Donald Trump]]
|-
| [[Dan Coats]]
| [[File:Dan Coats official DNI portrait (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| 2017-03-16
| 2019-08-15
| [[Donald Trump]]
|-
| [[Joseph Maguire]]
| [[File:Joseph Maguire official photo (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| 2019-08-15
| 2020-02-20
| [[Donald Trump]]
| Acting
|-
| [[Richard Grenell]]
| [[File:Richard Grenell official portrait (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| 2020-02-20
| 2020-05-26
| [[Donald Trump]]
| Acting
|-
| [[John Ratcliffe]]
| [[File:John Ratcliffe official photo (cropped).jpg|frameless|100px]]
| 2020-05-26
| 2021-01-20
| [[Donald Trump]]
|-
| [[Lora Shiao]]
| [[File:Lora Shiao.jpg|100px]]
| 2021-01-20
| 2021-01-21
| [[Joe Biden]]
| Acting
|-
| [[Avril Haines]]
| [[File:Avril-Haines (cropped).jpg|frameless|100px]]
| 2021-01-21
| present
| [[Joe Biden]]
|}
 
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

Latest revision as of 18:05, 21 April 2024

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The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is appointed by the President of the United States of America, subject to approval by the U.S. Senate. While the Director of National Intelligence is a cabinet-level position, its office-holder is not automatically a member of the president's cabinet (but could be invited by a given president to cabinet membership for that term). The DNI heads the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), headquartered in McLean, Virginia (a suburb of Washington, D.C.). As of 2024, the Office has about 1750 employees. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created in 2004 by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act[1] One of the main functions of the ODNI is to produce the President's Daily Brief, a classified document including intelligence from all the different U.S. intelligence agencies, that is handed each morning to the President.[2][3]

Prior to 2004, the U.S. intelligence community's head was called the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and was simultaneously head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The 2004 law abolished the DCI position and created instead the "Director of the CIA" office which is subordinate to the Director of National Intelligence who, however, lacks full budgetary authority over the intelligence agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense.[4] This is the main reason that critics say that the DNI's powers are too weak adequately to improve the cooperation of U.S. intelligence agencies.[5] Monitoring the implementation of this Act is a responsibility of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

References

  1. ↑ The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458) was created because of the perception that the various U.S. Intelligence agencies had not shared information adequately to prevent the 2001 9-11 Attack, even though enough information likely existed in various pockets here and there to have understood the threat. The new law also moved some community-related functions from the CIA to the ODNI, and specified that the Director and Principal Deputy Director of the new agency cannot both be active-duty military officers (i.e., one or the other should be a military intelligence officer, usually of four-star rank, or have extensive experience in military intelligence).
  2. ↑ "CIA to Cede President's Brief to Negroponte", February 19, 2005, The Washington Post
  3. ↑ Wikipedia's extensive article about the DNI has many more details and a list of all its office holders.
  4. ↑ The 2004 law establishing the ODNI left the Department of Defense in charge of the budget for the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
  5. ↑ Kaplan, Fred. You Call That a Reform Bill?, Slate Magazine, 7 December 2004.
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