Flynn helmed the Defense Department's intelligence arm from 2012 to 2014, but reportedly left after being pushed out of his post concerning disagreements with the White House about the prosecution of the anti-Daesh campaign.
Flynn was one of Trump's closest advisors during the presidential campaign and has been a key asset in forming Trump's security policies during the transition.
He was previously thought to be in the running for defense chief, but a U.S. legal regulation prohibits his appointment due to a requirement that any defense chief be out of the military for seven years before assuming the Pentagon's top spot.
Flynn wrote an article in which he stressed the importance of Turkey's role in the region and advocated for FETÖ ringleader Fetullah Gülen's extradition to Turkey. He said the issue was one of the key points of contention between Washington and Ankara
CIA DIRECTOR: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE MIKE POMPEOPompeo, 52, is a third-term congressman from Kansas who serves on the U.S House Select Intelligence Committee, which oversees the CIA, National Security Agency (NSA) and cyber security. Pompeo also was a member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi investigating the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Libya. The California native graduated first in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as a platoon leader in the U.S. Army before leaving military as a captain to attend Harvard Law School.In 1996, he moved to Kansas to launch an aircraft parts company. The firm's decision to open a factory in Mexico came under fire when Pompeo later ran for public office. Pompeo defended his work, saying the company had created jobs in the state. His ties to Koch Industries, owned by billionaire conservative donors Charles and David Koch, has also drawn scrutiny. He won re-election in the Nov. 8 election with 61 percent of the vote, according to Kansas's unofficial election results online.Pompeo has been critical of former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden who leaked National Security Agency information, saying in a 2014 letter that his telecast appearance at an event undermined the ideals of "fairness and freedom."