The intelligence community has a new executive

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has added a temporary position as it waits for Senate confirmed appointees to fill the two top intelligence community positions.

Those positions have been unfilled since Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon resigned August 15.

Andrew Hallman, a career CIA officer, is the office’s new principal executive, a position he will hold until the Senate confirms a new principal deputy director of national intelligence.

“I am delighted Andrew has joined ODNI as Principal Executive” said Acting DNI Joseph Maguire. “His exceptional experience and wise counsel are tremendously valuable as our nation faces a dynamic range of current and future global threats.”

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By Nathan Strout

ODNI has been without a director of principal deputy director of national intelligence since Aug. 15, when both Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon resigned. Both resignations were announced over Twitter by President Donald Trump.

The president quickly announced that he would be nominating Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas as Coats’ replacement, but the president moved on after Congress expressed concerns over his qualifications.

Instead, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Maguire, a retired Navy SEAL vice admiral, was named acting director of ODNI. Hallman will now join Maguire helming the ODNI until the Senate confirms two nominees.

Since joining the CIA in 1989, Hallman has served in a number of roles at the agency. He most recently served as the deputy director of the CIA for digital innovation, where he was responsible for accelerating the integration of digital and cyber capabilities. Before that he was the CIA’s deputy director of intelligence for strategic programs.

Hallman is no stranger to ODNI, having served as the office’s assistant deputy director of national intelligence for intelligence integration from 2011 to 2013.

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