Biden’s pick says no room for politics in intel agencies
WASHINGTON » Presidentelect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the intelligence community, Avril Haines, promised Tuesday to “speak truth to power” and keep politics out of intelligence agencies to ensure their work is trusted. Her remarks implied a departure from the Trump administration’s record of pressuring intelligence officials to shape their analysis to the president’s liking.
“When it comes to intelligence, there is simply no place for politics — ever,” she told the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Haines, the former CIA deputy director and former deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, would be the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence, or DNI, the role started after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
She was given a mostly positive reception by committee Republicans and Democrats, suggesting likely confirmation by the full Senate. Sen. Mark Rubio of Florida, the committee chairman, seemed to allude to Haines’ confirmation as a sure thing, rattling off her eclectic career experiences and hobbies, and then joking, “I’m not sure what you’re going to do with the rest of your life and this new position.”
Her testimony kicked off a series of confirmation hearings for Biden’s picks to lead the State Department, the Pentagon, and the departments of Homeland Security and Treasury.
While most of those nominees were unlikely to be confirmed by the time Biden takes the oath of office, some could be in place within days.
3 major issues
In the opening hour of her hearing, questions focused on China as a potential adversary, Iran and prospects for containing its nuclear program, and domestic extremist violence, the issue that has taken on added urgency in the weeks since Haines was nominated. Her answers
were received with little sign of opposition from panel members.
Haines said domestic extremism was mainly a matter for the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, but that the intelligence community, which is comprised of 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA, has a support role in assessing the threat coming from domestic extremists. She said she expects that intelligence agencies would be involved in those discussions, particularly if there are connections between Americans and foreignbased extremist groups. She said she understand that such connections to international groups exist, although she mentioned none by name.
In introducing Haines to the committee, Dan Coats, who served as director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, called her an “exceptional choice” for the position.
Mayorkas testifies
Also testifying Tuesday at his confirmation hearing was Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He would be the first Latino and first immigrant to lead the agency.
Mayorkas faced questions from Sen. Rob Portman, the Ohio Republican who chairs the Homeland Security committee, about an Office of Inspector General report that criticized his management of an investor visa program that he oversaw as head of the immigration services committee under President
Barack Obama. The IG said that he caused a perception of bias by overturning decisions on behalf of three investment projects backed by prominent Democrats.
“I learned of problems and fixed them,” Mayorkas said.
Several senators said it was important to quickly confirm a new head of Homeland Security, given the threats facing the nation from the pandemic, the massive SolarWinds cyberhack that authorities suspect was carried out by Russia, and the rising threat of domestic extremists.
“He understands the challenges that this country faces, both from our foreign adversaries and now more than ever from our domestic ones,” said Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, in calling for confirmation.
Putting his national security team in place quickly is a high priority for Biden, not only because of his hopes for reversing or modifying Trump administration policy shifts, but also because of diplomatic, military and intelligence problems around the world that may cause challenges early in his tenure.
The most controversial of the group may be Lloyd Austin, the recently retired Army general whom Biden selected to lead the Pentagon. Austin will need not only a favorable confirmation vote in the Senate, but also a waiver by both the House and the Senate, because he has been out of uniform only four years.