President-elect Biden has chosen a trusted leader to serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ambassador William Burns’s great experience and his dedication to apolitical intelligence will be critical as he takes on this new role.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after President-elect Biden nominated Ambassador William Burns to serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency:
“President-elect Biden has chosen a trusted leader to serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ambassador William Burns is respected on both sides of the aisle for his integrity, experience and commitment to keeping the American people safe.
“Ambassador Burns is one of our nation’s most accomplished diplomats, having spent decades working closely with the Intelligence Community, Congress and our allies and partners, to protect our Democracy and security. His great experience and his dedication to apolitical intelligence will be critical as he takes on this new role, during this precarious moment for our country.
“Democrats in Congress look forward to working with Ambassador Burns in our shared mission to protect the American people from all threats.”
William Joseph Burns was born on 11 April 1956. He is an American diplomat, the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former United States deputy secretary of state (2011–2014).
Burns retired from the US Foreign Service in 2014 after a 33-year diplomatic career. He previously served as Ambassador of the United States to Jordan from 1998 to 2001,
Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs from 2001 to 2005, Ambassador of the United States to the Russian Federation from 2005 to 2008, and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2008 to 2011. On January 11, 2021, President-elect Joe Biden nominated Burns to head the Central Intelligence Agency.