Not sure who pushed for Dan Coats to become DNI, but Pence sure did push to keep him on.

https://splinternews.com/mike-pence-reportedly-begged-dni-dan-coats-not-to-quit-1833571918

You know that work friend you have who you can vent to about the angering interactions with your boss, especially when you’re close to losing it and quitting altogether, but who also happens to be the assistant manager and keeps telling you that he’ll talk to the guy for you and that you should just ride it out until things get better?

Vice President Mike Pence is definitely that shitty friend, and he has been to multiple people within the Trump administration. He’s particularly aligned himself, however, with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, a former Republican congressman and senator from Pence’s home state of Indiana. And reportedly, Pence has begged Coats to stay on no matter how many reasons their own boss, President Donald Trump, gives Coats not to.

According to a report from NBC News, Pence convinced Coats to stay in the Trump administration until at least the summer after Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, current and former officials told the outlet. Coats reportedly sided with Defense Secretary James Mattis on the policy, according to NBC News, but didn’t know what to do after Mattis’ resignation. Pence then convinced Coats to stay on for longer, arguing that another top national security official’s resignation following Mattis’ would look very bad for the president.