Senate to Confirm Former Colleague Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence

The Senate is expected to confirm one of its colleagues from recent memory, former Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN), to replace James Clapper as Director of National Intelligence Wednesday. After serving in Congress in both the Senate and House, Coats is well known and well liked on both sides of the aisle. Given the current investigations of the White House and Trump campaign, senators had many questions for Coats, but the only concern raised during confirmation hearings about his temperament was whether or not he was too nice for the job.

"I’m not sure likeability and affability are the qualities I want in this position," Angus King (I-ME) said. “I want somebody who is crusty and mean and tough because you’re riding herd on 17 agencies that will always want to be going in different directions, and you’re going to be reporting to a president who may or may not want to hear what you have to say.”

Who is Dan Coats?

Dan Coats is a career politician, diplomat and lobbyist. He received a law degree from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and served in the US Army from 1966 to 1968. He was elected to represent Indiana’s 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1989. He then was appointed to fill Dan Quayle’s senate seat when Quayle became President George H. W. Bush’s vice president. He won a special election to finish out Quayle’s term in 1990, and then the general election for a full six-year term in 1992. Coats returned to the Senate in 2010, representing Indiana for another six year term.

Between his stints in the Senate Coats served as the Ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2005. He also worked as a lobbyist for Cooper Industries, a Texas corporation manufacturing electrical products worldwide.

What issues have been raised through his nomination?

In addition to questions about whether or not Coats will be tough enough to be the frequent bearer of bad news to the president, senators also noted that recent changes to the makeup of the principal members of the National Security Council could make it very hard for Coats to do his job. President Trump removed the Director of National Intelligence from the principals committee in February.

Coats testified that the president and other administration officials told him the change to the Committee was a "drafting error" and that he would be “welcome and needed and expected to be a part of the principals committee”. Coats also testified that he will not allow politics to prevent the the proper gathering and dissemination of intelligence:

"Our job is not to influence intelligence in any way for political reasons. Our job is to present the truth to those who make policy decisions about where we go. I will not tolerate anything that falls short of that standard."

Coats has history as a senator of calling for more aggressive policies against Russia, so he’s an interesting choice at a time when the intelligence community has raised red flags about the administration’s involvement with Russia. Coats committed in his confirmation hearing to helping the Senate Intelligence Committee fully investigate any potential connection between the administration and Putin’s regime. "It’s a very key issue that we understand fully what has happened and how it’s happened," he testified.

Coats was also questioned on his position in regards to torture as a means of gleaning intelligence. Though he maintained that he would not pursue any changes to current law, which prohibits techniques such as waterboarding, he did raise questions about how those prohibitions might affect the ability to gain information in a time-sensitive scenario.

What is the Director of National Intelligence?

The Director of National Intelligence is a Presidential Cabinet position created by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The Director is the head of the sixteen member U.S. Intelligence Community, including intelligence agencies like the CIA, military intelligence and intelligence and analysis offices within federal executive departments. The Director oversees the National Intelligence Program and advises the President on national security, upon invitation, to the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council.

-- Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Office of Senator Coats / Public Domain)