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Avril Haines was quickly confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in an 84-10 vote.
Why is this important: Haines is the first of President Biden’s nominees to receive full Senate confirmation and she will be the first woman to hold the post of DNI. She previously served as Deputy Director of the CIA from 2013 to 2015 and Deputy National Security Advisor from 2015 to 2017.
- Among other commitments, Haines pledged to conduct a public assessment of the threat the QAnon conspiracy theory poses to US security.
- She also pledged to release the declassified report on the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, which the Trump administration had previously withheld.
- Haines will also be responsible for restoring confidence in the intelligence community.
The big picture: Confirmation came just hours after Democrats regained a majority in the Senate. The senses. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) And Alex Padilla (D-Ca.) Sworn in on Wednesday afternoon.
- The Senate split is now 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris presiding as a tiebreaker.
What to watch: Treasury Secretary-appointed Janet Yellen should be another priority for confirmations, with much of the responsibility for economic recovery from COVID-19 falling to the Treasury.
- A vote is also scheduled tomorrow on whether to grant Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s candidate a waiver to fill this role.
- Austin needs the waiver because he hasn’t left the military for over seven years.
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