Director of National Intelligence James Clapper submits resignation

On Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced to the House Select Committee on Intelligence that he is resigning. "[I] submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," Clapper said, per CNN's report. Clapper had in the past admitted to "counting down the days to stepping down" at the end of President Obama's term, NBC News reported, and on Thursday told lawmakers he had "64 days left and [would] have a pretty hard time with my wife going past that."

Clapper's resignation comes as President-elect Donald Trump's team assesses its plans for national security. Clapper had expressed his disagreement with Trump's claims during a presidential debate that the U.S. had "no idea whether it's Russia" that had hacked into the email systems of various Democratic organizations. In a statement released shortly after Trump's remarks, Clapper insisted the intelligence community would not have said the hacks were tied to Russia "unless we were very confident." Trump will be inaugurated Jan. 20, 2017, which is 64 days away.

Clapper has served in government for more than 50 years.

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