WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Leon Panetta , chief of staff in President Bill Clinton 's White House , will be President-elect Barack Obama 's choice to be CIA director , two Democratic officials told CNN on Monday . Leon Panetta , who has a strong background in economics , was chief of staff for President Bill Clinton . The officials also said retired Adm. Dennis Blair , who formerly headed the U.S. Navy 's Pacific Command , will be tapped as director of national intelligence . Panetta , 70 , has had a long political career , beginning in 1966 when he served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Thomas H. Kuchel . R-California . He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1977 , serving California 's 16th -LRB- now 17th -RRB- District until Clinton appointed him to head the Office of Budget and Management in 1993 . He was chief of staff from 1994 to 1997 . Panetta and his wife , Sylvia , founded and co-direct the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University , which provides study opportunities for students there and at several other schools . He serves on several boards and committees , and lectures internationally on economics . With a strong background in economics , Panetta has little hands-on experience in intelligence . But he is known as a strong manager with solid organizational skills . Sen. Dianne Feinstein , who will be the new chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee , said she had not been told in advance of Panetta 's selection . `` My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time , '' the California Democrat said . But Sen. Ron Wyden , a senior member of the Intelligence Committee , said he was consulted on the pick and praised Panetta . `` I believe he has the skills to usher in a new era of accountability at the nation 's premier intelligence agency , '' said Wyden , D-Oregon . `` For too long our nation 's intelligence community has operated under a policy of questionable effectiveness and legality in which consulting two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee counted as ` consulting with Congress . ' '' Sen. Kit Bond , R-Missouri , the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee , also questioned Panetta 's lack of intelligence experience , as did outgoing committee chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller , D-West Virginia . Rep. Pete Hoekstra , the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee , would n't comment until Obama makes an announcement , but his spokesman said that Hoekstra `` has called for a new direction and a change in the culture a the CIA for some time . '' `` Whether it is Leon Panetta or someone else , it is important the agency move in a new direction , '' Jamal Ware said . Blair , 61 , was a 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and attended Oxford University in Britain as a Rhodes scholar at the same time as Clinton . Blair retired from the Navy in 2002 . He was the CIA 's first associate director of military support and served on the National Security Council . He has been sharply critical of U.S. policy in terms of strategic long-term planning . iReport.com : Share your thoughts on Obama 's cabinet picks `` I am in awe of the sophisticated strategies that American politicians can devise and pursue over many years , '' he told a House panel in July . `` They involve very public activities -- speeches , programs , alliances -- but also backroom deals , and stratagems , tactical flexibility but strategic constancy , investment in intellectual and organizational capabilities that will not pay off for years . `` I have yet to see these same brilliant politicians come up with similar strategies to advance the national interest when they come into national office . Our national strategies show little of the depth , brilliance and effectiveness of the domestic political strategies this country produces . '' Blair also is known in Navy circles for once trying to water-ski behind the destroyer he skippered , the USS Cochrane .