CONTROVERSIAL COUNTERINTELLIGENCE NOMINEE ON HOLD IN SENATE

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The nomination of U.S. intelligence community's most senior counterintelligence official, under fire for overlooking major counterspy failures in the Obama administration, is on hold in the Senate.

FBI Agent Bill Evanina, an Obama administration holdover and head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, a DNI unit, has been awaiting Senate confirmation for two years.

Earlier this month, Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, placed a hold on Evanina's nomination for the second time to prevent him from being the first Senate-confirmed director of the counterintelligence center.

The hold is based on a dispute with the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and Justice Department. It is the second time in two years the nomination has been blocked by Grassley who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The last hold on the nominee took place in June 2018.