Negroponte To Accept US Deputy Secretary Of State

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–U.S. National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte will accept the post of Deputy Secretary of State, NBC News reported Wednesday.

The Deputy Secretary of State post has been open for months since the resignation of Robert Zoellick.

NBC News also reported that Negroponte’s likely successor as head of U.S. intelligence is retired Adm. Mike McConnell, the director of the National Security Agency from 1992 to 1996.

McConnell is now a senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, the Washington contractor and consulting agency, according to NBC. Before his tenure at NSA, McConnell was head of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, holding that position during the first Gulf War.

The Associated Press, citing a government official, also reported that Negroponte would take up the Deputy Secretary of State job.