President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats (R) as his director of national intelligence, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing a Trump transition official. The official announcement will likely come as soon as Friday.
Coats, who the Times described as a "mild-mannered conservative," will be coming aboard amid Trump's recently announced plans to restructure the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency; Trump reportedly believes the agencies have become too politicized. Coats would be joining Rep. Mike Pompeo, the more "hard-charging conservative" Trump has appointed to be his director of central intelligence, on Trump's national security team.
Coats served on the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees during his time in the upper chamber, from which he recently retired.