Director of National Intelligence

The director of national intelligence (DNI) is an important official in the United States government. This person helps lead all the groups that work to keep the country safe and informed about what other countries are doing. There are 18 big groups, like the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that report to the DNI.

The DNI gives advice to the president and helps make sure the president gets important information every day. This information is kept very secret and is called the President's Daily Brief. The president picks the DNI, and the United States Senate must agree to this choice before the person can start the job.

Over time, presidents have given the DNI more jobs to do. For example, they help decide how to share information with other countries and how to protect people who tell on bad people. The DNI is also part of important meetings with other leaders in the government. In 2025, Tulsi Gabbard was chosen to be the DNI by President Donald Trump.

History

Founding

Before the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was created, the head of the United States Intelligence Community was the director of central intelligence, who also led the Central Intelligence Agency.

The idea to create the DNI position came after the 9/11 Commission Report pointed out problems in how the intelligence community worked together. Senators Dianne Feinstein, Jay Rockefeller, and Bob Graham introduced a bill in 2002 to create this new role. After much discussion, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, and President George Bush signed it into law on December 17, 2004. This law made the DNI the leader of the United States Intelligence Community and made sure the DNI could not also be the director of the CIA.

Some people felt the DNI did not have enough power to effectively lead the intelligence community, especially since some important agencies like the National Security Agency stayed under the control of the United States Department of Defense.

Appointments

The first DNI was John Negroponte, appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in April 2005. He was followed by Mike McConnell in 2007, then Dennis C. Blair in 2009, who left in 2010. James Clapper took over later that year.

Between 2017 and 2021, several people served as DNI during President Donald Trump's time in office. The seventh DNI was Avril Haines, the first woman to hold the job, who started in 2021 and left at the end of President Joe Biden's term in 2025.

In November 2024, President-elect Trump chose Tulsi Gabbard to be the next DNI. She was confirmed by the Senate in February 2025, becoming the first female military combat veteran, the first Pacific Islander American, and the first Hindu American to serve in this important cabinet-level role.

Website issues

In 2007, reports said the official DNI website could not be found by search engines. Officials said they fixed the problem, but it seemed to happen again briefly.

Reform initiatives

In 2007, the Office of the DNI shared plans to improve teamwork and make changes within the U.S. Intelligence Community. These plans aimed to help different intelligence agencies work better together.

Office of the Director of National Intelligence

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as an independent agency to help the Director of National Intelligence. The ODNI aims to bring together information from different places to protect the United States at home and abroad. It has about 1,750 employees and its main office is in McLean, Virginia.

The ODNI is led by the director, with a principal deputy director and a chief operating officer. There are two main groups: one for bringing together important tasks and another for planning and abilities. These groups have teams that focus on stopping threats, like keeping an eye on dangerous activities and keeping information safe.

Organization

The ODNI has several important teams and offices that help it do its work. These include centers that watch for different kinds of threats and offices that make sure rules are followed and that everyone is treated fairly.

Organization seals

[National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center](/wiki/National_Counterproliferation_and_Biosecurity_Center)

[Foreign Malign Influence Center](/wiki/Foreign_Malign_Influence_Center)

[National Counterterrorism Center](/wiki/National_Counterterrorism_Center)

[National Counterintelligence and Security Center](/wiki/National_Counterintelligence_and_Security_Center)

[Inspector General of the Intelligence Community](/wiki/Inspector_General_of_the_Intelligence_Community)

[Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center](/wiki/Cyber_Threat_Intelligence_Integration_Center)

United States Intelligence Community

Main article: United States Intelligence Community

Line of succession

If the Director of National Intelligence can no longer serve, there is a specific order of people who can take over. This order is:

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.

List of principal deputy directors of national intelligence

a.^ Hallman's and Wiley's position was Principal Executive, which did not require Senate confirmation. The duties were the same as those of a principal deputy director.

List of chief operating officers

List of directors of the intelligence staff / chief management officer

List of inspectors general

a.^ Monheim became Acting IG upon Atkinson's being put on administrative leave on April 3. He remained Acting IG upon and after Atkinson's official removal on May 3.

List of deputy directors of national intelligence

Assistant directors of national intelligence

Associate Director of National Intelligence and Chief Information Officer

The Associate Director of National Intelligence and Chief Information Officer (Intelligence Community CIO, ADNI/CIO or IC CIO) directs and manages information technology for the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The IC CIO reports directly to the DNI. The Office of the IC CIO was created by Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 500 on August 7, 2008.

The IC CIO has four main jobs:

• Manage information technology and enterprise architecture for the Intelligence Community;
• Approve purchases of information technology for all Intelligence Community parts;
• Manage all information technology buying for the Intelligence Community; and
• Make sure spending on information technology matches the Intelligence Community’s plans.

IC CIOs have been:

• Dale Meyerrose December 21, 2005 – September 2008

• Patrick Gorman (acting) October 2008 – January 20, 2009

• Priscilla Guthrie May 26, 2009 – November 19, 2010

• Charlene Leubecker (acting) November 19, 2010 – February 2011

• Al Tarasiuk February 2011 – April 28, 2015

• Dr. Raymond "Ray" Cook July 23, 2015 – January 20, 2017

• Jennifer Kron (acting) January 20, 2017 – September 11, 2017

• John Sherman September 11, 2017 – January 20, 2021

• Michael Waschull (acting) January 20, 2021 – January 23, 2022

• Dr. Adele J. Merritt January 24, 2022 – December 16, 2024

• Doug Cossa (acting) December 16, 2024 – Incumbent