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Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Politics
Jack Detsch, Amy Mackinnon, Robbie Gramer, Robbie Gramer, William J. Burns, William J. Burns, Jared Cohen

Biden Taps Career Diplomat William Burns as CIA Director

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns speaks during an event about economic partnership with China at the State Department in Washington on July 11, 2013. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

President-elect Joe Biden has selected William Burns as his nominee to lead the CIA. If confirmed, Burns would become the first career diplomat to lead the country’s premier intelligence agency. 

Facing pressure from the progressive flank of the Democratic Party not to choose a nominee associated with the agency’s controversial drone and torture programs, Biden’s choice signals an appetite to break with darker aspects of the CIA’s recent history. 

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