Biden CIA nominee Burns faces easy path to U.S. Senate confirmation
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[February 24, 2021]
By Patricia Zengerle and Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe
Biden's nominee to be director of the CIA, William Burns, is expected to
sail through his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, with
discussion largely focused on challenges from China and Russia and
threats from international hacking networks.
Burns, 64, a former career diplomat who worked in both Democratic and
Republican administrations, has already been confirmed by the Senate
five times for his stints as ambassador to Jordan and Russia and three
senior positions at the State Department.
In his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burns was
expected to outline his four top priorities - "people, partnerships,
China and technology" - if he is confirmed to head the agency, according
to a U.S. official familiar with the issue.
Competition with China is a top priority for the Biden administration -
and for members of Congress, who want a tough line toward Beijing.
Russian aggression is a constant concern, especially its involvement in
U.S. elections and the recent SolarWinds hack that penetrated government
agencies and that U.S. officials have blamed on Russian hackers.
Burns will also note that he often worked with the Central Intelligence
Agency during his years as a diplomat. "He understands the mission and
knows the people. It means politics will stop where intelligence work
begins," the official said.
Some of that experience came in an area that could draw fire from
Republicans. Burns and Jake Sullivan, who is now Biden's national
security adviser, led secret talks with Iran in 2013 that helped pave
the way for the international nuclear deal that has been blasted by
Republicans.
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U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns attends a meeting with
Egypt's interim President Adli Mansour at El-Thadiya presidential
palace in Cairo, July 15, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File
Photo
The Biden administration offered last week to sit down with the
Iranians and other parties to the 2015 pact to see if there is a way
to return to the agreement, after Trump withdrew in 2018.
Burns' arrival at the CIA would come after a difficult four years
under former President Donald Trump, a Republican who frequently
disregarded spy agencies' findings, especially the determination
that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to boost his chances
of winning the White House.
Senator Mark Warner, the committee's Democratic chairman, will
stress that point in his opening remarks.
"I would like to hear how you plan to reinforce the credo that – no
matter the political pressure, no matter what – CIA's officers will
always do the right thing and speak truth to power," he will ask
Burns, according to his prepared remarks.
Biden has been able to get most of his national security team into
place with support from many Senate Republicans as well as
Democrats. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines all
easily won confirmation.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Mark Hosenball, additional
reporting by JOnathan Landay and Arshad Mohammed; writing by
Patricia Zengerle; editing by Mary Milliken and Sonya Hepinstall)
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