US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, who has been closely involved with US policy on Iraq, will trade in his job as top spy to become No. 2 to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Negroponte took over in April 2005 as the first US intelligence chief, responsible for overseeing all 16 US spy agencies. He will return to his roots as a career diplomat to become deputy secretary of state, two US government officials said on Wednesday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the officials said the timing of Negroponte's departure was uncertain, but that it was expected soon.
Negroponte, 67, is stepping down as President George W. Bush develops a new strategy on Iraq. The president has ordered reviews from his own agencies and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which recommended a series of changes to reverse a "slide toward chaos."
Negroponte has held a series of tough posts in the Bush administration and has been at the center of the Iraq debate since before the US-led invasion in March 2003. He served as US ambassador to the UN from 2001 to 2004 and ambassador to Baghdad until March 2005 before becoming intelligence chief.
Democrats taking control of Congress yesterday have pledged greater oversight of government agencies. The Senate Intelligence Committee, for instance, is planning hearings this month on the intelligence overhaul that Negroponte helped put in place.
A top candidate for the intelligence chief opening is retired Admiral Mike McConnell, the director of the National Security Agency from 1992 to 1996. McConnell is now a senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, a government contractor and consulting firm.
Negroponte's transition to the State Department must be confirmed by the Senate, as would Bush's choice for his replacement. The changes create new openings for the Democrats to debate the administration's intelligence and foreign policy direction.
The Office of the National Intelligence Director and the White House both declined to comment on Negroponte's move.
The State Department also had no comment, but one official confirmed that Negroponte was to become deputy secretary of state.
Robert Zoellick resigned as Rice's deputy in July to take a position with the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs. Rice is said to have approached several candidates for what is widely regarded as a plum assignment, going for months without any takers.
Negroponte's move creates uncertainty over the position of national intelligence director, which grew out of concerns over intelligence failures before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Congress established the post in late 2004 following the recommendation of the Sept. 11 commission. Bush tapped Negroponte to set up the new office from scratch.
He brought together experts to focus on how the government collects and analyzes intelligence and helped create new agencies, including the National Counterproliferation Center, which studies the spread of weapons.
But it has been a struggle at times for Negroponte and his staff to corral all 16 spy agencies. Critics have questioned whether his staff of 1,500 is becoming another clumsy bureaucracy, even as it tries to avoid the intelligence lapses of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Iraq.
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