Biden may nominate Donelon, assistant to national security of the Obama administration, as the director of the CIA
Two people familiar with the matter revealed that Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate who won the U.S. election, is inclined to appoint Tom Donilon, the National Security Assistant to the President of the Obama administration, as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Tom Donillon
According to a U.S. political news website Politico on the 25th, people familiar with the matter revealed that Donilon is currently the “priority candidate” for the director of the CIA. Donillon served as Obama’s National Security Assistant from 2010 to 2013, and also served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. State Department during Bill Clinton’s presidency. According to the report, Donelon has a legal, business and political background and has rich foreign affairs experience. During Obama’s first term, Donelon was the key designer and coordinator of his policies such as “return to Asia”.
An Obama administration official who worked with Donelon called Donelon a “meticulous expert” with harsh standards in an interview with Politico, but he said that Donelon usually worked behind the scenes before and although he had all the knowledge and skills needed to hold senior positions, he was in public. Combination may seem uncomfortable. Samantha Vinograd, who used to be a senior adviser to Donelon, called Donelon a very good boss. In an interview, she said, “No one can care more about her employees than Donilon.”
In addition to Donelon, Mike Morell, who served as acting CIA director from 2012 to 2013, and Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security under the Obama administration, are also candidates for the CIA director. According to the report, Donelon and Morel have “great pressure” experience and are also familiar with the highest level of the national security department. Johnson is also a candidate for defense secretary and attorney general in Biden’s new administration.
According to previous reports, Biden announced the first cabinet list on the 23rd local time, including Anthony Blinken as Secretary of State, Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security, and Avril Haines is the Director of National Intelligence, Linda Thomas-Greenfield is the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, Jake Sullivan is the National Security Adviser to the White House, and former Secretary of State John Kerry) is the President’s Special Envoy for Climate.
