WASHINGTON — Dan Coats, the Trump administration’s director of national intelligence, is expected to step down in coming days and Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, is a likely successor, though no final decision has been made, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesman for Ratcliffe. Coats, a former GOP senator from Indiana, stepped into the role as President Donald Trump’s first director of national intelligence in March 2017.
He has been a longtime critic, including as a former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, of Russian actions internationally and of its efforts to interfere in U.S. elections, which he warned in 2018 were ongoing.
Coats’ term also has been marked by what U.S. officials see as more aggressive military and espionage efforts by China, tensions with Iran after the U.S. exited the 2015 nuclear pact, and a U.S. initiative aimed at eventual detente with North Korea.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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