Role of the Director
The role of the Director of the CIA (D/CIA) is to manage the Agency’s intelligence collection, analysis, covert action, counterintelligence, and liaison relationships with foreign services. The D/CIA also oversees the management of foreign intelligence acquired by human sources, what we call HUMINT.
The CIA Director is nominated by the President with the advice, consent, and confirmation of the Senate. The D/CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence.
CIA Director John L. Ratcliffe
John Ratcliffe was officially sworn in as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on January 23, 2025. Director Ratcliffe comes to the Agency having served previously in the U.S. Intelligence Community as the sixth Director of National Intelligence, from May 2020 to January 2021, making him the first person ever to serve as both Director of National Intelligence and as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
As the Director of National Intelligence, Director Ratcliffe led a shift in the U.S. Intelligence Community’s priorities to increase the U.S. intelligence advantage over the People’s Republic of China and exercised strategic oversight over intelligence operations and capabilities that removed designated terrorist leaders from the battlefield. As a member of the National Space Council, Director Ratcliffe elevated space to a priority intelligence domain and added the U.S. Space Force as the 18th member of the U.S. Intelligence Community.
Prior to his tenure as the Director of National Intelligence, Director Ratcliffe served for more than five years as the U.S. Representative for the 4th Congressional District of Texas, where he was a leading policymaker on national security issues as a member of the House Intelligence, Homeland Security, and Judiciary committees. His Congressional career followed one of public service as, first, the Chief of Anti-Terrorism and National Security and then as the U.S. Attorney, both for the Eastern District of Texas. Director Ratcliffe was also a founding partner, with former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, of the law firm Ashcroft Sutton Ratcliffe.
Director Ratcliffe received the National Security Medal, the nation’s highest honor for distinguished achievement in the field of intelligence and national security, and the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal. He earned a bachelor’s degree in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame and his doctoral degree in law from Southern Methodist University School of Law.
Deputy Director of the CIA
Role of the Deputy Director
The CIA Deputy Director (DD/CIA) supports the Director in managing the Agency’s intelligence collection, analysis, covert action, counterintelligence, and liaison relationships with foreign services. The DD/CIA also exercises the Director’s powers in his or her absence or if the Director position becomes vacant.
Deputy Director Michael Ellis
Michael Ellis was sworn in as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on February 10, 2025. Deputy Director Ellis has held a variety of senior national security positions, including General Counsel of the National Security Agency and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council.
Deputy Director Ellis previously served in the White House Counsel's Office, providing legal advice on national security and foreign relations. Prior to the White House, he was General Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves.
Before returning to government, Deputy Director Ellis was the General Counsel of Rumble, a publicly traded video sharing platform and cloud service provider.
Deputy Directory Ellis is a graduate of Yale Law School and Dartmouth College. Following law school, he served as a clerk to two federal judges. He is a "Jeopardy!" champion.
Chief Operating Officer
Role of the Chief Operating Officer
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) manages CIA on a day-to-day basis, formulating and implementing policies and programs that affect the corporate interests of the Agency and its personnel on behalf of the Director of the CIA. Enterprise-level functions under the COO’s purview include budget and resources, strategic planning, and senior personnel assignments.
Chief Operating Officer Maura Burns
Maura Burns was selected as CIA’s Chief Operating Officer in May 2022. She most recently served as CIA’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer and brought a wide range of leadership and expertise to the position. She advanced through multiple analytic and managerial roles during her long career within the Directorate of Analysis, where she specialized in weapons, counterproliferation, and counterterrorism.
Over the years, Ms. Burns earned many prestigious honors. In 2024, she received the Wash100 Award that recognizes the most influential federal government executives; in 2016, she received a Presidential Rank Award; in 2010, she was inducted into the Senior Intelligence Service for exceptional executive experts and managers who advance the Agency’s mission; and in 2000, she was among the first group inducted into the Senior Analytic Service – a cadre of the Intelligence Community’s leading subject matter experts.
A native of Pittsburgh and a diehard Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates fan, Ms. Burns joined the Agency in 1988 after working for Westinghouse. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1985 and volunteers her time as a docent at the National Air and Space Museum.