Director of National Intelligence
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is a key U.S. government official responsible for overseeing and coordinating the country's intelligence efforts across various agencies. Established in response to failures highlighted by the 9/11 Commission, the DNI was created in December 2004 to enhance the effectiveness of the intelligence community by ensuring better communication and resource allocation among the fifteen intelligence agencies, including the CIA and those within the Defense Department. The first DNI, John Negroponte, was sworn in on April 21, 2005, marking a significant shift in how intelligence is managed at the national level.
The DNI oversees a substantial national intelligence budget—approximately $40 billion in its early years, growing to over $71 billion by 2023—which supports around 150,000 personnel. The role has evolved to include responsibilities in intelligence collection, analysis, and policy development, with notable expansions under Presidents George Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. As of 2021, the DNI has reached Cabinet-level status, reflecting its importance in national security. The position is now held by Avril Haines, the first woman to serve in this role, demonstrating a shift toward greater diversity in leadership within the intelligence community.
Director of National Intelligence
On April 21, 2005, John Negroponte was sworn in as the first Director of National Intelligence (DNI)a post at the center of a significant reform of U.S. government intelligence efforts. The position was created by Congress in December 2004 as part of the reaction to two widely perceived failures of intelligencein the case of the September 11, 2001 attacks by al Qaeda and in false reports that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
As designed in the legislation creating the position, the DNI was intended to be the premier intelligence official overseeing the activities and budgets of fifteen intelligence agenciesincluding some in the Defense Department. The new position effectively demoted the Director of Central Intelligence, who had both headed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the senior intelligence official responsible for briefing the President since 1947. Under the new arrangement, the Director of Central IntelligencePorter Goss at the timereported to the DNI as head of one of several agencies.
The DNI was intended to oversee a national intelligence budget of about $40 billion spread over agencies that employ about 150,000 people. About 80 percent of the intelligence budget was allocated to agencies within the Defense Department. Intelligence budgets ranged from over $60 billion in 2020, $65 billion in 2021, to $71.7 billion alloted in 2023.
Origins
Creating a DNI was recommended by the 9/11 Commission's report issued in July 2004 as part of its examination of the failure of American intelligence to detect the al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001. The Commission concluded intelligence agencies had gathered many signals of an impending attack but the structure of the government's intelligence apparatus contributed to the government's failure to take timely action to prevent the hijackings. In its report, the 9/11 Commission recommended:
"The current position of Director of Central Intelligence should be replaced by a National Intelligence Director with two main areas of responsibility: (1) to oversee national intelligence centers on specific subjects of interest across the U.S. government and (2) to manage the national intelligence program and oversee the agencies that contribute to it."
In December 2004, both houses of Congress passed legislation revamping the structure of the "intelligence community"including creating a Director of National Intelligence to oversee the entire effort. Passage of legislation was delayed for almost a month by members of Congress concerned the revised structure could dilute the Pentagon's authority over intelligence on the battlefield.
The bill restructuring federal intelligence agencies was the most significant change since the Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947.
In February 2005, President George Bush nominated John Negroponte to become the first DNIhe was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in on April 21, 2005. Admiral Michael Haydenthen head of the National Security Agencywas named Negroponte's Principal Deputy.
In May 2006, Hayden was nominated to replace Porter Goss as the Director of the CIA. The circumstances of Goss's resignationfor which no official reason was offeredled to speculation that Negroponte had become unhappy with Goss and that Goss was resisting revamping his organization under Negroponte's supervision. When President Bush nominated Hayden to run the CIA, some members of Congress questioned whether it was proper to have a career military officer running a nominally civilian agency. Members of Congress raised new questions of whether bureaucratic power strugglesnotably with the Defense Departmentstill played an important role in what is officially described as the "intelligence community."
Still, in 2008, President Bush expanded the role of the DNI by adding more responsibilities in gathering intelligence and setting policy. President Obama expanded on this further in 2012 by adding responsibilities related to source protection and whistleblower protection to the role. Finally, after the inauguration of President Joe Biden in 2021, the DNI became a Cabinet-level position with the office overseeing eighteen different intelligence agencies.
Original structure of the DNI
Below the inaugural Director (Negroponte) and the inaugural Principal Deputy Director (Hayden) were four original deputy directors:
- The Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Customer Outcomes (Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, Jr.) is responsible for "ensuring decision-makers receive timely and actionable information that allows them to fulfill their respective national security missions by articulating, advocating and coordinating their requirements within the intelligence community."
- Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis (Thomas Fingar, formerly assistant secretary of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research), responsible for "enhancing the quality, timeliness, and utility of analytic support to intelligence consumers." The Deputy Director for Analysis serves concurrently as the National Intelligence Council's Chairman and manages the production of the President's Daily Brief.
- Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection (Mary Margaret Graham, former associate deputy director for operations for counterintelligence at the CIA) responsible for coordinating "collection throughout the Intelligence Community." Four assistant deputies include one for "Collection Strategies," one for "Human Intelligence," one for "Open Source," and one for "Technical Means."
- Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Management (Patrick F. Kennedy, chief of staff of the transition in Iraq from May-August 2004) responsible for implementing "the responsibilities of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) relative to the administrative management of the Intelligence Community, strategic planning and coordination, and the development and execution of the National Intelligence Program budget."
In the 2020s, only slight changes were made to the structure of the DNI, but the office had evolved with the nation's intelligence concerns. On January 21, 2021, Avril Haines was sworn in as the first female Director of the DNI. She had previously served as the Deputy National Security Advisor and the Deputy Director of the CIA. Stacey Dixon was Haines's Principal Deputy Director. In 2023, there were two further deputy positionsDeputy of Mission Integration, Morgan Muir, and Deputy of Policy and Capabilities, Charles Luftig. Below the deputies were the directors of several aligned groups, including the National Counterterrorism Center, National Counterintelligence and Security Center, and National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center.
Bibliography
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