The Senate voted to confirm Avril Haines as director of National Intelligence, making her the first woman in history to lead the intelligence community.
The Senate confirmed Haines 84-10, hours after President Joe Biden was sworn in.
COMMANDED DNI-NOMINATED AVRIL HAINES SAY THE PURPOSE MUST BE ‘OUT-COMPETITED CHINA’
Haines held her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, promising to set a “strategic vision” for the intelligence community to ensure the U.S. is well-positioned to “” address threatening developments and seize new opportunities such as it arises. ‘
Haines, under the Obama administration, was a senior adviser on national security and as deputy director at the CIA – she was the first woman to hold both positions.
Haines said under her leadership she would ensure that the intelligence community “has the ability to understand, warn, protect and defend the United States against the threats we face”, pointing to a number of threats – ranging from “traditional state actors” to “evolving” transnational threats such as “climate change, cyberattacks, terrorism, global organized crime and corruption, disinformation campaigns and more.”
“We need to provide the necessary information to support long-term two-party efforts to compete with China – to gain and share insight into China’s intentions and capabilities, while also making more immediate efforts to undermine Beijing’s unfair, illegal, aggressive and counteracting coercive actions, support as his human rights violations, wherever we can, ”Haines testified.
US COUNTER-INTEL HEAD warns fined manager of China’s foreign influences: ‘One of the bigger challenges’
Haines also pledged to do more training to educate Americans about China’s malicious foreign influence campaign against the United States.
The Biden transition has prompted the Senate to confirm the president’s top national security candidates by the inauguration day.
The inauguration of former President Trump in 2017 confirmed his Secretary of Defense and Homeland Security.