Sue Gordon resigning from ODNI
Sue Gordon will step down from her role as the principal deputy director of national intelligence Aug. 15.
President Trump tweeted the news Thursday evening. Gordon’s resignation comes after she met with Trump in the Oval Office earlier in the day, Bloomberg first reported.
Aug. 15 also happens to be the last day for her boss, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who resigned late last month. Trump tweeted: “A new Acting Director of National Intelligence will be named shortly.” He then announced Joseph Maguire, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, as his pick to act as Coats’ replacement.
The president planned to nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, as Coats’ successor but the lawmaker abruptly dropped those plans last Friday.
Per federal statute, Gordon would’ve been next up to serve as acting director of national intelligence. But many sources reported last week that Trump was looking to block Gordon as an option, raising red flags that her days as the intelligence community’s No. 2 were numbered.
Gordon leaves behind a legacy as a trailblazer for modernization throughout the intelligence community. In her two years as principal deputy director of national intelligence, she spoke often to the importance of improving the intelligence community’s ability to use and share data, particularly through a common enterprise cloud environment.
Prior to her ODNI leadership role, she served as deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where digital transformation was a top priority. She also spent close to three decades with the CIA.
Gordon is a FedScoop 50 winner and was recognized as one of the Top Women in Tech. She participated in a fireside chat at FedTalks 2018, which you can watch below:
