Picking Dixon as the acting Director of National Intelligence is somewhat unusual since the longtime U.S. intelligence official was appointed to her current post — principal deputy DNI — by Joe Biden.

The Senate Intelligence Committee will begin hearings soon after the new Congress takes its seats on Jan. 3. The attacks on her started early. On Nov. 13, “Nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials,” as AP described them, signed a letter calling for closed-door hearings.