Florida’s two Republicans in the U.S. Senate—Marco Rubio and Rick Scott–joined the overwhelming majority of their colleagues in confirming President Joe Biden’s choice of Avril Haines to serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI):
The Senate confirmed Haines on an 84-10 vote on Wednesday.
Haines served in the U.S. State Department in legal affairs during President George W. Bush’s administration before serving as deputy chief counsel for the Democrats on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden served as the chairman of it. In President Barack Obama’s administration, Haines worked at the State Department and as deputy assistant to the president and as deputy counsel to the president for National Security. During Obama’s second term, Haines served as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and as deputy national security advisor (DNSA).
Rubio, the acting chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, moved quickly in getting Haines through the Senate, even missing Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday to focus on the confirmation.
“The DNI is the focal point for intelligence integration and is crucial to our national security,” Rubio said after the vote. “Our adversaries will not stand by and wait for the new administration to staff critical positions, and I am pleased my Senate colleagues joined me in swiftly confirming Director Haines to this important post. I look forward to working with Director Haines as she oversees the efforts of our nation’s 18 intelligence agencies, including efforts to comprehensively address the multifaceted national security and counterintelligence threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
