"The American people will sleep soundly with him as our next CIA Director," Biden said in a statement.

If confirmed, Burns would become the first leader in the CIA's history whose lifelong experience comes from the State Department.

"Bill Burns is an exemplary diplomat with decades of experience on the world stage keeping our people and our country safe and secure," Biden said.

"He shares my profound belief that intelligence must be apolitical and that the dedicated intelligence professionals serving our nation deserve our gratitude and respect."

Biden was drawn to Burns because of his diplomatic experience and his perceived ability to restore credibility to the intelligence agency in the post-Trump era, people familiar with the matter said, along with his expertise on Russia.

The CIA director position is not expected to be a formal member of Biden's Cabinet, which represents a change from the Trump administration, but a return to the status it had in the Obama administration.

Avril Haines, whom Biden nominated as director of national intelligence, will represent the intelligence community on the Cabinet.

While Burns was initially mentioned as a secretary of state nominee for Biden, one longtime CIA analyst made the case for his selection to lead the CIA in a blog post late last year.

"The appointment of Burns would send an important signal about the revival of public service, which has been demeaned for the past four years, and for the importance of the entire intelligence community, not simply the CIA," Melvin Goodman, who served as a CIA analyst for three decades, wrote in a blog post for Counterpunch, arguing for the selection of Burns.