WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush plans to name John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, as his choice for the newly created post of director of national intelligence, congressional sources said Thursday.
Negroponte has been the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq since June.
He was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2001 to 2004.
The new director's position springs from the intelligence overhaul bill that Bush signed into law in December. The legislation was designed to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 commission that investigated the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
The director will be responsible for overseeing and managing the U.S. intelligence community -- authority that had been spread between 15 intelligence agencies.
The job will be one of the the most powerful in the U.S. government. Some critics have said that the director's duties and authority have not been spelled out clearly.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday that Congress did not want to handcuff the director.
"I think the fact that all of the lines aren't crossed and every decision isn't made about what powers the DNI has is an advantage for the DNI because a vacuum invites power. I think it is much more important that the DNI be able to come in, he or she, in order to fill that out according to their own instincts," Rockefeller said.
"If we had prescribed in Congress each of the relationships between the agencies, I think that would have been an enormous mistake and would have rendered this person more useless. This person can exercise power, and I think that's good."
The Senate must confirm the president's nominee.
The day before, Rockefeller had criticized Bush for taking so long to name a director.
"Two months have now passed since the bill signing ceremony, and the position of director of national intelligence remains vacant, not even a person nominated. To me, this is unacceptable," he said Wednesday at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, the committee's chairman, said he shared Rockefeller's frustrations, but he noted the importance of choosing the right person.
Roberts also reminded the committee the bill indicated the Bush administration had until June 17 to appoint the director.
"It is my opinion that the administration is also awaiting the report of the independent [weapons of mass destruction] commission, part of whose job or task is to take a look at the intelligence reform bill and make some recommendations," Roberts said.
Bush appointed this commission to investigate faulty prewar intelligence that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction. The administration cited such a program in its decision to invade Iraq in March 2003, but inspectors have found no stockpiles of weapons.
On May 6, 2004, Ambassador John D. Negroponte was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as the United States Ambassador to Iraq. Ambassador Negroponte presented his credentials to the Iraqi Interim Government on June 29, 2004.
From September 18, 2001, until his appointment to Iraq, Ambassador Negroponte served as the United States Representative to the United Nations.
From 1997 to 2001, Ambassador Negroponte was employed in the private sector and served as Executive Vice President for Global Markets of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
From 1960 to 1997, Ambassador Negroponte was a member of the Career Foreign Service. He served at eight different Foreign Service posts in Asia, Europe and Latin America; and he also held important positions at the State Department and the White House.
Among his more recent assignments, Ambassador Negroponte was Ambassador to Honduras (1981-1985); Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (1985-1987); Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1987-1989); Ambassador to Mexico (1989-1993); and Ambassador to the Philippines (1993-96).
Mr. Negroponte is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy. He is a former Chairman of the French-American Foundation.
Ambassador Negroponte is a graduate of Yale University. He and his wife, Diana, have five children.
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