With the formation of the Soviet Union in December 1922, a unified organization was required[citation needed] to exercise control over state security throughout the new union. Thus, on November 15, 1923, the State Political Directorate left the Soviet NKVD and came directly under the Council of People's Commissars as the all-union Joint State Political Directorate. Felix Dzerzhinsky, chairman of the GPU, became the OGPU's first chief.