According to ABC news' reports, President-elect Barack Obama will nominate retired Navy Adm. Dennis Blair as the nation's top intelligence official. Blair, who would replace Michael McConnell as the director of National Intelligence, would oversee the entire US intelligence apparatus and be responsible for delivering Obama's daily intelligence briefing.

Though the current director, Michael McConnell, has shown an inclination to stay on, influential Democrats - including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, incoming head of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a California Democrat - have called for new leadership at the post and the CIA.

McConnell and CIA Director Michael Hayden have been criticized by some Democrats and human rights groups for their defense of Bush administration counterterrorism tactics, which include harsh questioning of suspects and wiretapping international phone conversations.

By appointing Blair, Obama would keep an experienced military leader in the post. The four-star admiral and former top US military commander in the Pacific region has a reputation as a smart thinker, and has been under consideration as the front runner for the intelligence job.

The position requires confirmation by the Senate. Blair and retired Marine Gen. James Jones, who Obama has picked for national security adviser, have served together on the Project for National Security Reform. Obama has vowed to "put a clear end to torture" and "restore" a balance between security and constitutional protections.

During a 34-year Navy career, Blair also served as an associate CIA director for military support and for a period at the White House National Security Council. Until last year he was president of the Institute for Defense Analyses, a nonprofit group that researches defense issues for the federal government.