President Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Thursday that he’s considering tapping Rep. Doug Collins to take over permanently as the director of national intelligence, according to a White House pool report. It wasn’t immediately clear how many other people were in the running for the post, which has lacked a permanent director since Dan Coats’ resignation last summer, just before a whistleblower emerged to accuse Trump of strong-arming Ukraine for dirt on Joe Biden. If nominated, Collins would need Senate confirmation. The Georgia Republican earned Twitter praise from Trump during impeachment proceedings for defending the president and railing against the Democrats’ “impeachment hoax.” News of consideration for Collins comes just after Trump named another loyalist, Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, to serve as the acting intelligence chief and replace his previous acting intelligence chief, Joseph Maguire. Maguire was forced out before his tenure was due to expire after Trump became outraged by an intelligence briefing last week that warned that Russia was once against seeking to boost Trump in the 2020 election.
