I have to admit that I have not spent a lot of time thinking about the succession scenarios in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, currently headed by John Negroponte.
But I’ve been hanging around Tom Clancy a bit — not much, just a bit — and this type of problem is one of those Clancy-esque scenarios which add such interesting grit to his stories.
But as of today, a line of succession directive has been ordered by President Bush.
If the Director of National Intelligence is not able to perform his functions and duties, and his principal deputy, General Mike Hayden gets knocked out of action as well, here is the order of those who would take over:
(a) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Management;
(b) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection;
(c) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis;
(d) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Customer Outcomes;
(e) Chief of Staff, Office of the Director of National Intelligence;
(f) General Counsel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and
(g) Chief Information Officer, Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
I like the bumper sticker slogans embedded in the ODNI organization chart.
Want It — Know It — Get It — Build it!!
The first person to succeed Negroponte is the “Build It” guy, Patrick Kennedy.
Next in line, the “Get It” lady, Mary Margaret Graham.
Tom Fingar, who was one of the key players in the background investigation on John Bolton’s abusive antics at the State Department, is the “Know It” guy and is third in line.
And the “Want It” customer-oriented Ron Burgess is fourth in line if Negroponte and Hayden prove unable to do their jobs.
There is no “link” yet to this Presidential Memorandum, so I will post in full here:
December 20, 2005
MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
SUBJECT: Designation of Officers of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence To Act as Director of National Intelligence
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345, et seq., it is hereby ordered that:
Section 1.Subject to the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of this memorandum, the officers of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence named in section 2, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), during any period in which the DNI and the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of the DNI, until such time as at least one of the officers listed in this section is able to perform the functions and duties of the DNI.
Sec. 2. Order of Succession.
(a) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Management;
(b) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection;
(c) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis;
(d) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Customer Outcomes;
(e) Chief of Staff, Office of the Director of National Intelligence;
(f) General Counsel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and
(g) Chief Information Officer, Office of the Director of National Intelligence.Sec. 3. National Security Act of 1947.
This memorandum shall not supercede the authority of the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence to act for, and exercise the powers of, the Director of National Intelligence during the absence or disability of the Director of National Intelligence or during a vacancy in the position of Director of National Intelligence, (National Security Act of 1947, as amended, 50 U.S.C. 403-3a).
Sec. 4. Exceptions.
(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2 in an acting capacity shall act as the DNI pursuant to this section.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this memorandum, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by law, to depart from this memorandum in designating an acting DNI.Sec. 5. Publication.
You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Speaking of intelligence succession, official secrets, and all that, I’ll be posting more later. . .on the George Bush/Al Jazeera Bombing Memo.
— Steve Clemons
