Coats, who is a former Republican representative and Indiana senator, has been director of national intelligence since the start of the Trump presidency in 2017. Previously he had also been the US ambassador to Germany. Coats publicly criticised the president’s relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin and told a Senate panel he didn’t believe North Korea would give up nuclear arms despite Trump’s talks with Kim Jong-un.
Donald Trump announced that Coats will leave office on August 15. He added that republican representative Ratcliffe to be nominated for director of national intelligence.
US media reported earlier on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter that Coats is to step down in the coming days.
Ratcliffe has recently attracted attention, reportedly winning Trump’s approval when he supported Trump aggressively during former special counsel Robert Mueller’s hearings on Capitol Hill this week.
During the judiciary committee session, Ratcliffe said he agreed with House judiciary chair Nadler that Donald Trump is not above the law, adding: “but he damn sure should not be below the law, which is where volume two of this report puts him.”