Negropontes job switch

last updated 8 January 2015

Washington, D.C.

John Negroponte, the Bush administration’s top intelligence official, startled Washington last week by stepping down as director of national intelligence to become deputy to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. On paper, the move is a demotion, and it prompted speculation that the White House was dissatisfied with Negroponte’s management of the sprawling intelligence bureaucracy, which encompasses 16 separate agencies and 100,000 employees. At State, Negroponte, 67, will be responsible for the Iraq, China, and North Korea portfolios. President Bush nominated retired Admiral John McConnell to succeed Negroponte as intelligence director.