Senator Tom Cotton is poised to lead the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee when the new Congress convenes in January, The Post has learned.

Cotton (R-Ark.), an Army infantry officer who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is expected to replace outgoing Vice President Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — the president-elect’s choice Donald Trump. to be the next secretary of state — as the first GOP senator on the 17-member panel.

The elevation of Cotton, which previously ruled himself out of any position in the second Trump administrationwas first reported by Punchbowl News.

Although Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) surpass Cotton in terms of seniority on the Intelligence Committee, they are expected to let Cotton beat them to the chairmanship, top sources confirmed. placed by the GOP in the Senate.

Risch and Collins, for their part, will chair the Senate Foreign Affairs and Appropriations committees, respectively, the sources added.

The Intelligence Committee regularly receives classified briefings from executive agencies — and Cotton will be a key figure in what Trump has called his fight against “deep state” bureaucrats who obstructed his agenda in his first administration.

A highly respected member of the Intelligence Committee, Cotton made calls for a ban on all flights between the United States and China in January 2020 in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic outside Wuhan – and was subsequently the first major political figure to raise this theory, now widely believed, the virus escaped from a laboratory in the central Chinese city..

Republicans will retake the coveted Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Appropriations seats with their new Senate majority, which will stand at 53-47 when the 119th Congress convenes and lawmakers are sworn in on January 3.

However, with the loss of Rubio and Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio), Buckeye State Gov. Mike DeWine and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will have to select replacements for those seats and schedule a special election at a later date.

Cotton informed Trump’s transition team last week that he was not seeking a position in the administration, Axios reportedalthough his name has since been thrown around a high-level national security position such as FBI Director, CIA Director, or Secretary of Defense.

Also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Cotton, 47, is a defense hawk and was seen as a strong supporter of the Trump agenda in the 45th president’s administration.

Last year, Cotton called for a ‘massive’ U.S. policy retaliation against Iran after its terrorist proxies fired on American troops and their allies in the Middle East.

However, the Arkansas Republican split with Vance’s opposition to spending $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine during the period. a key vote in the Senate in April.

House Republicans are also expected to maintain their majority, but will have to fill the seats vacated by Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) and Michael Waltz (R-Florida), whom Trump chose to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. United and national. respectively security advisor.

A spokeswoman for Cotton did not respond to a request for comment.