Retired Air Force Gen. James Clapper is President Obama’s nominee to succeed Adm. Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence, responsible for coordinating the activities of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. Blair resigned under pressure last month. Clapper, currently the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, is known to favor limiting the powers of the national intelligence director.
Some members of Congress expressed misgivings about Clapper’s nomination, saying a former military officer might be beholden to the Pentagon. But Obama praised Clapper’s “willingness to tell leaders what we need to know even if it’s not what we want to hear.”
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