Director of National Intelligence facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Director of National Intelligence
Flag of the Director
Seal of the Director
Incumbent Tulsi Gabbard since February 12, 2025
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Style	Madam Director (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet National Security Council Homeland Security Council
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States with Senate advice and consent
Constituting instrument	50 U.S.C. § 3023
Precursor	Director of Central Intelligence (DCI)
Formation	December 17, 2004
First holder	John Negroponte
Deputy	Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (P/DDNI)

The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is a very important government official in the United States. This person is part of the President's Cabinet, which is a group of top advisors. The DNI's main job is to lead and watch over all the different spy and security agencies in the country. This group of agencies is called the United States Intelligence Community (IC).

The DNI makes sure that all 18 agencies in the IC work together. These agencies include well-known ones like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the National Security Agency (NSA). Even parts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that deal with intelligence report to the DNI.

The DNI also gives advice to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council about all things related to intelligence. Every morning, the DNI, with help from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), prepares a secret document called the President's Daily Brief. This document shares important information from all the intelligence agencies with the President.

The President chooses the DNI, and the United States Senate must agree with the choice. The DNI serves as long as the President wants them to.

In 2008, President George W. Bush made the DNI's role stronger. He signed an order that gave the DNI more power to guide how intelligence is gathered and analyzed. It also gave the DNI more say in sharing information with other countries and in hiring or firing senior intelligence officials. Later, in 2012, President Barack Obama added more responsibilities, making the DNI in charge of protecting people who report wrongdoing within the intelligence community.

The DNI's job became even more important when it was made a full Cabinet-level position during President Donald Trump's first term. This status continued under President Joe Biden. Now, the DNI attends all Cabinet meetings and works closely with the President's team and other Cabinet members. Currently, Tulsi Gabbard is the Director of National Intelligence, having been confirmed by the Senate in February 2025.

How the DNI Role Started

The Beginning of the DNI

Before the DNI position was created, the person in charge of the U.S. intelligence agencies was called the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). This person was also the head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at the same time.

After the terrible events of September 11, 2001, a special group called the 9/11 Commission looked into what happened. They found that there were big problems in how the intelligence agencies shared information and worked together. To fix this, the Commission suggested creating the DNI role in their report, which came out in July 2004.

Senators started working on laws to create the DNI position in 2002. After a lot of discussion about how much power the DNI should have, the United States Congress passed a law called the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. President George W. Bush signed this law on December 17, 2004. This law officially created the DNI as the leader of the United States Intelligence Community. It also made sure that the DNI could not also be the head of the CIA or any other intelligence agency at the same time. The CIA Director now had to report to the DNI.

Some people thought that the DNI's powers were still not strong enough to truly lead and improve all the intelligence agencies. For example, the law left the United States Department of Defense in charge of big agencies like the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

The law also suggests that either the DNI or their main deputy should have military experience or training in military intelligence. Only one of these two positions can be held by a military officer at any time.

Who Has Been DNI?

The first Director of National Intelligence was John Negroponte. President George W. Bush appointed him in February 2005, and the Senate approved him in April 2005.

After Negroponte, Mike McConnell became the second DNI in February 2007. Then, in January 2009, retired Navy admiral Dennis C. Blair became the third DNI under President Barack Obama.

The fourth DNI was retired Air Force lieutenant general James Clapper, who was nominated by President Obama in July 2010. He served until January 2017.

During President Donald Trump's first term, Dan Coats was the fifth DNI, followed by John Ratcliffe as the sixth. There were also several acting DNIs during this time.

The seventh DNI was Avril Haines, who started in January 2021. She was the first woman to hold this important job. She resigned in January 2025.

In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced he would nominate Tulsi Gabbard for the role. She was confirmed by the Senate in February 2025 and is the current DNI.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 also created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). This is a separate government agency that helps the DNI do their job. The ODNI's main goal is to make sure that all intelligence, whether it's about foreign countries, the military, or things happening at home, works together to protect the United States. The ODNI has about 1,750 employees and is located in McLean, Virginia.

Over time, the ODNI has changed to focus even more on making sure all intelligence agencies work as one team.

How the ODNI is Organized

The ODNI is led by the Director (the DNI), a main deputy, and a chief operating officer.

It has different parts that focus on specific tasks:

• Mission Integration Directorate: This group helps combine all the different pieces of intelligence.
  • National Intelligence Council
  • President's Daily Brief
• Policy & Capabilities Directorate: This group works on rules and new ways to gather intelligence.
  • Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity

There are also five special centers that focus on specific threats:

• National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center: Deals with stopping the spread of dangerous weapons.
• National Counterterrorism Center: Focuses on fighting terrorism.
• National Counterintelligence and Security Center: Works to protect U.S. secrets from spies.
• Foreign Malign Influence Center: Looks at how other countries might try to unfairly influence the U.S.
• Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center: Deals with threats from cyberattacks.

And four offices that oversee how things are done:

• Office of Civil Liberties, Privacy and Transparency (CLPT): Makes sure the intelligence community respects people's rights and privacy.
• Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity: Ensures fair treatment for all employees.
• Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General: Checks to make sure agencies are following rules and doing things correctly.
• Office of General Counsel: Provides legal advice.

Seals of ODNI Organizations

• 

  NCBC

• 

  FMIC

• 

  NCTC

• 

  NCSC

• 

  ICIG

• 

  CTIIC

The United States Intelligence Community

The Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of 18 different government agencies and offices that gather and analyze intelligence to protect the United States. The DNI leads this entire community. Here are some of the agencies that are part of it:

Directors of National Intelligence

This position took over from the Director of Central Intelligence.

No.	Image	Name	Start	End	Duration	President(s)
1		Negroponte, JohnJohn Negroponte	April 21, 2005	February 13, 2007	1 year, 298 days		Bush, George W.George W. Bush (2001–2009)
2		McConnell, MikeMike McConnell	February 13, 2007	January 27, 2009	1 year, 349 days
–		Burgess, RonaldRonald Burgess Acting	January 27, 2009	January 29, 2009	2 days		Obama, BarackBarack Obama (2009–2017)
3		Blair, DennisDennis Blair	January 29, 2009	May 28, 2010	1 year, 119 days
–		Gompert, DavidDavid Gompert Acting	May 28, 2010	August 5, 2010	69 days
4		Clapper, JamesJames Clapper	August 5, 2010	January 20, 2017	6 years, 168 days
–		Dempsey, MikeMike Dempsey Acting	January 20, 2017	March 16, 2017	55 days		Trump, DonaldDonald Trump (2017–2021)
5		Coats, DanDan Coats	March 16, 2017	August 15, 2019	2 years, 152 days
–		Maguire, JosephJoseph Maguire Acting	August 15, 2019	February 20, 2020	189 days
–		Grenell, RichardRichard Grenell Acting	February 20, 2020	May 26, 2020	96 days
6		Ratcliffe, JohnJohn Ratcliffe	May 26, 2020	January 20, 2021	239 days
–		Shiao, LoraLora Shiao Acting	January 20, 2021	January 21, 2021	1 day		Biden, JoeJoe Biden (2021–2025)
7		Haines, AvrilAvril Haines	January 21, 2021	January 20, 2025	3 years, 365 days
–		Dixon, StaceyStacey Dixon Acting	January 20, 2025	January 25, 2025	5 days		Trump, DonaldDonald Trump (2025–present)
–		Shiao, LoraLora Shiao Acting	January 25, 2025	February 12, 2025	18 days
8		Gabbard, TulsiTulsi Gabbard	February 12, 2025	Incumbent	177 days

Who Takes Over if the DNI Can't Serve?

If the Director of National Intelligence cannot do their job, there is a specific order of people who would take over:

• Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
• Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration
• Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
• Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center
• Inspector General of the Intelligence Community

Key Leaders Under the DNI

Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence

This person is the DNI's main helper and takes over if the DNI is unable to serve.

Chief Operating Officer

This person helps manage the daily operations of the ODNI.

Inspector General of the Intelligence Community

This person checks to make sure that all intelligence agencies are working correctly and following the rules.

Deputy Directors of National Intelligence

These leaders help the DNI with specific areas of intelligence work.

Assistant Directors of National Intelligence

These individuals help manage various important functions within the ODNI.

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