President-elect Joe Biden announced today that he will nominate William Burns, a former deputy secretary of state with extensive diplomatic experience, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Reuters and the Associated Press reported that Burns served as a U.S. diplomat for 33 years and was deputy secretary of state. After leaving office in 2014, he moved to run the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an international affairs think tank, of which he is now president.
During his service at the State Department, Burns, 64, has served as ambassador to Russia and Jordan under both Republican and Democratic presidents.
Burns also led secret negotiations during former President Barack Obama’s presidency to pave the way for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
After the inauguration of the current president Donald Trump in 2017, Burns remained silent until last year, when he began writing articles in publications such as Foreign Affairs criticizing the Trump administration’s policies.
“Burns is an exemplary diplomat with decades of experience on the world stage, keeping our people and our country safe and secure,” Biden said.
He and I believe deeply that intelligence must be kept out of the hands of politics, and that intelligence professionals who dedicate themselves to serving our country deserve our gratitude and respect. Ambassador Burns will bring the knowledge, judgment and perspective we so desperately need to avert and respond to threats before they come. With him as our next CIA director, the American people will sleep soundly.
Burns must be approved by the Senate, which Biden’s Democrats hold by a narrow margin.
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