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Civic Register
| 1.20.21

Know a Nominee: Avril Haines to Be Director of National Intelligence

Do you support or oppose Haines’s nomination?

UPDATE 1/20/21 (7:10pm ET)

  • The Senate confirmed Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence on a bipartisan vote of 84-10, with all Democrats and a majority of Republicans in favor.
  • Once she is sworn in and officially takes office, which may happen as early as tonight, Haines will become the first woman to serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

What's the story?

  • The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday night on the nomination of Avril Haines to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Here’s what you need to know about the nominee.

Who is Avril Haines?

  • Haines, 51, is a lawyer who served in the Obama administration in several national security roles and previously worked as counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when it was chaired by then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE).
  • Haines worked in the office of the White House Counsel on national security affairs from 2010 until she became the first woman nominated to serve as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2013, a role she held until 2015.
  • She then replaced Antony Blinken (Biden’s secretary of state-designate) as the deputy National Security Advisor in 2015, becoming the first woman to serve in that post. Haines served in that role until the end of the Obama administration.
  • After her service in the Obama administration, Haines was appointed to multiple posts at Columbia University and Syracuse University, consulted for data firm Palantir Technologies, and worked for WestExec Advisors, a firm founded by Blinken.

What’s the outlook for her nomination?

  • The Senate is likely to confirm Haines with bipartisan support, as senators from both parties have withdrawn any objections that would block a vote on her confirmation Wednesday night.
  • Haines will likely be among the first Cabinet nominations confirmed after Biden’s inauguration.

What does it mean for the intelligence community?

  • If confirmed, Haines would become the first woman to serve as the DNI.
  • The DNI role was established in 2005 to provide a single leader for America’s 17-member Intelligence Community.


— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Institute of Peace via Flickr / Public Domain)