Biden makes picks for FEMA, CIA positions
WASHINGTON — Presidentelect Joe Biden is nominating New York emergency department chief Deanne Criswell to serve as the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator and has tapped former CIA deputy director David Cohen to return to the agency in the same role he served during the Obama administration.
Criswell, who also spent more than five years in top posts at FEMA during the Obama administration, is the first woman nominated to head the agency.
Cohen, who was deputy CIA director from 2015 to 2017, has traveled the world for years tracking money flowing to terror groups, such as the Islamic State group, and other bad actors on the international stage.
Cohen’s work directing the Treasury Department’s intelligence unit earlier in his career earned him the nicknames of “financial batman” and “sanctions guru.”