Thursday, 16/03/2017 18:55 (GMT+7)
Former Senator Dan Coats has been formally confirmed as President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence.
Mr. Dan Coats (center) (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Senators voted 85-12 to approve the nomination of former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, making him the fifth person to hold the post.
Once sworn in, Coats will be responsible for overseeing the 16 federal agencies commonly referred to collectively as the intelligence community.
The intelligence position was created in 2004, after fallout from the Sept. 11th, 2001 attacks, and has become critical in helping prevent another terror attack.
Coats replaces James Clapper, who retired at the end of the Obama administration.
Dan Coats, born in 1943, served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1989 to 1999, and again from 2011 to 2017./.
Compiled by BTA