Joe Kent, a former Army Special Forces soldier and two-time Republican candidate for Congress in Washington, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday as director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Former Washington congressional candidate Joe Kent was confirmed as director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Wednesday.

Joe Kent steps into the NCTC not as a bureaucrat, but as a combat-tested operator bringing hard edges, deep scars, and a no-nonsense mission mindset to the nation’s counterterror fight.