John Ratcliffe was confirmed on Thursday as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), making him the second chairman Donald Trump cabinet elections to secure their position.
By a vote of 74-25, Ratcliffe was confirmed.
The Senate’s full confirmation of Ratcliffe followed a 14-3 vote by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday night, which advanced Ratcliffe’s nomination to the Senate floor on Thursday.
Ratcliffe previously served as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI) from May 2020 to January 2021, during the president’s first term. At the time, Ratcliffe faced scrutiny over whether he was adequately qualified for the role and whether his loyalty to Trump might cloud his judgment. Ratcliffe’s final nomination was approved along party lines.
INTERRUPTION OF SENATE HEARINGS FOR TRUMP’S CABINET NOMINEES
Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, appears at the Senate Intelligence Committee’s confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Ratcliffe, a former conservative congressman from Texas, served as director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Prior to Ratcliffe’s role as DNI, he was a member House of Representatives since 2015, he has served the 4th congressional district of Texas. During Ratcliffe’s tenure in Congress, he served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 2019 until moving to DNI the following year.
Ratcliffe’s confirmation this time received support from some Democrats, including the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mark Warner of Virginia, who voted for Ratcliffe’s confirmation.
MODERATE REPUBLICAN MURKOWSKI WILL NOT SUPPORT TRUMP’S CHOICE OF HEGSETH FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director John Ratcliffe talks with former Attorney General John Ashcroft (right) as he arrives for a Senate intelligence confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Ratcliffe, a former conservative congressman from Texas, served as director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
During Ratcliffe’s first confirmation hearing last week, when lawmakers questioned him about how he would handle the role of CIA director if confirmed, Ratcliffe said he would eliminate politicization and “vigilance” in the agency’s workforce. Ratcliffe added that he plans to focus on the agency’s approach to technology, saying he thinks it has struggled to keep up with the technological evolution taking place in the private sector.
Ratcliffe will also take a hawkish stance towards Chinaaccording to people close to Ratcliffe, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
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Ratcliffe’s confirmation makes him the second Trump nominee to receive congressional approval, after Marco Rubio. The Republican-controlled Senate said it planned to work overtime to get Trump’s other nominees quickly approved, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune insisted in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday night that he would work “nights, weekends, breaks” while the process does not end.
