President Obama has nominated James Clapper, Jr. to be director of national intelligence to replace the ousted Dennis Blair. Clapper is a retired Air Force lieutenant general who is currently undersecretary of defense for intelligence.

President Obama: “With four decades of service to America, Jim is one of our nation’s most experienced and most respected intelligence professionals. As undersecretary of defense for intelligence, he has successfully overseen the military and civilian intelligence personnel and budgets that make up the bulk of our sixteen-agency intelligence community. He has improved information sharing, increased intelligence support to our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, upheld civil liberties, and he played a key role in our effort to update and reorient our intelligence community to meet the threats of our time.”

If approved by the Senate, James Clapper would be the fourth director in five years since the job was created. On Capitol Hill, key members of the Senate Intelligence Committee have expressed concern over Clapper’s close ties to the Pentagon, which already controls the bulk of the classified intelligence budget.