The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was a position created under President George W. Bush to coordinate the 17-odd intelligence agencies across the US government, and Coats explained that he viewed the role as similar to a coach in American football.
“I’ll be taking a look at not only the Office of the DNI, but the entire intelligence community [IC], and at how we can do things most efficiently and effectively,” Coats said in the opening remarks at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“The threats that we face today are more challenging, dynamic and geographically diffuse than ever before,” Coats said, putting the “rising cyber threat” at the top of the list.
The former senator from Indiana (1989-1999 and 2011-2017) has been a vocal critic of Russia, and was even put on a sanctions list by Moscow in March 2014, barring him from entering the country.
“Russia’s assertiveness in global affairs is something I look upon with great concern, which we need to address with eyes wide open and a healthy degree of skepticism,” Coats said at the hearing.