Kate Heinzelman

Kate Elizabeth Heinzelman is an American attorney serving as the general counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency. She was nominated by President Joe Biden to the position and was confirmed by the Senate on July 14, 2022.^[1]

Kate Heinzelman
General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency
Incumbent
Assumed office July 14, 2022
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Courtney Simmons Elwood
Personal details
Born	Kate Elizabeth Heinzelman
Spouse	Jonathan Cooper ​ (m. 2013)​
Education	Yale University (BA, JD)

Education

Heinzelman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.^[2]

Career

From 2009 to 2010, Heinzelman served as a law clerk for Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She later clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts at the Supreme Court of the United States.

From 2012 to 2013, she served as counsel in the United States Department of Justice National Security Division. From 2013 to 2015, she served as Associate White House counsel and assistant to President Barack Obama. From 2015 to 2017, she served as deputy general counsel of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. After the end of the Obama administration, in 2017, Heinzelman joined Sidley Austin as counsel before becoming a partner in 2020.^[3][4]

President Joe Biden announced his nomination of Heinzelman on March 8, 2022 for the position of General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency.^[5] The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held its open hearing for her nomination on April 6, 2022.^[6] On May 10, 2022 the Committee held its closed meeting on the nomination, with chairman Senator Mark Warner favorably reporting the nomination and passing it on to the full Senate.^[7][8][9] Committee Vice Chair Senator Marco Rubio opposed confirmation.^[10] On July 14, 2022, the United States Senate confirmed her nomination by a 50–41 vote.^[11]

References

1. "PN1834 - Nomination of Kate Elizabeth Heinzelman for Central Intelligence Agency, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. 2022-05-10. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
2. "Kate Heinzelman, Jonathan Cooper". The New York Times. 2013-09-29. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
3. "President Biden Announces Key Nominees". The White House. 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
4. Seligman, Lara; Thompson, Alex; Meyer, Theodoric (9 February 2021). "Biden's press-shy secretary". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
5. "President Biden Announces Key Nominees". The White House. 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
6. "Hearings | Intelligence Committee". Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Archived from the original on 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
7. "Closed business meeting to consider the nomination of Kate Elizabeth Heinzelman, of New York, to be General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency; to be immediately followed by a closed briefing on certain intelligence matters". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
8. 2022 Congressional Record, Vol. 168, Page S2419 (2022-05-10)
9. 2022 Congressional Record, Vol. 168, Page S2419 (2022-05-10)
10. "Rubio Opposes Heinzelman Nomination". U.S. Senator for Florida, Marco Rubio. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
11. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Kate Elizabeth Heinzelman, of New York, to be General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency)". United States Senate. July 14, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2024.