PoliticoJoe Biden leans toward Tom Donilon as CIA chief
- Veteran diplomat Tom Donilon was national security adviser to former president Barack Obama
- Biden is also said to be considering Michael Morell, who was the CIA’s deputy director
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Nahal Toosi, Natasha Bertrand, Lara Seligman and Bryan Bender on politico.com on November 25, 2020.
US President-elect Joe Biden is leaning toward naming former Obama administration national security adviser Tom Donilon as his CIA director, two people familiar with the situation said.
The choice for the spymaster role is one of the toughest facing Biden as he puts together his national security team. The CIA has found itself uncomfortably embroiled in domestic politics under Donald Trump, accused by the outgoing president and his allies of seeking to tar him as an agent of Moscow and representing a “deep state” bent on undermining his policies. Whomever Biden picks will also confront an emboldened Russia and an increasingly aggressive China, along with transnational threats like climate change and pandemics.
While Donilon is said to be the front-runner at the moment, Michael Morell, who has previously led the CIA on an acting basis, remains a top competitor. Both men offer experience under intense pressure and familiarity with the national security bureaucracy at the highest levels. But each man has some baggage: Morell has been accused of defending the CIA’s past use of torture, which has earned him the opposition of influential Democatic senators. Donilon has some detractors as well, including former staff members who say he can be an unusually tough boss who demands an excessive amount of work for little clear purpose.
Another name being floated for CIA is Jeh Johnson, the former Obama-era Homeland Security secretary. Johnson, a former federal prosecutor, served as the Pentagon’s general counsel during Obama’s first term – trying, but failing, to shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It’s not clear how serious his standing is in the CIA hunt, however, and he’s also being mentioned for other posts, including defence secretary and attorney general. Johnson is on Lockheed Martin’s board of directors, a fact that does not endear him to progressives, who want Biden to cut defence spending.
Johnson, in an email, declined to comment on whether he’s discussed any of the positions with the Biden team. A Biden transition team spokesperson also declined to comment for this story, as did Donilon.