Obama picks Pentagon official as intelligence chief

President Obama is expected to name a senior Pentagon official to be the next intelligence chief, the Associated Press and other news sources reported on Friday.

The president on Saturday will nominate Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper to be the director of national intelligence, according to AP. Clapper currently is the undersecretary of Defense for intelligence.

He would replace Dennis Blair, who resigned late last month amid criticism of the intelligence community's inability to connect the dots to thwart terrorist plots, such as the recent failed attempts to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner and set off a bomb in Times Square.

The nomination could meet resistance on Capitol Hill, as Clapper has gotten into spats with lawmakers during congressional hearings, and some have questioned whether his military background is the best fit for the job, the AP reported.