John Ratcliffe was President Donald Trump’s nominee for Central Intelligence Agency Director. The Senate confirmed him to lead the CIA on Jan. 23. This was possible thanks to an overwhelming bipartisan consensus. He is the second member of Trump’s national security team to be approved by the upper chamber of Congress.
The final vote to ratify Ratcliffe as new CIA Director was 74-25, with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) not voting. Twenty-one members who caucus with Democrats voted along with every attending Republican on Thursday.
“He will bring valuable knowledge and experience to his new post,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on the floor earlier this week, crediting Ratcliffe’s earlier experience as director of national intelligence (DNI) and on the House Intelligence Committee.
“Mr. Ratcliffe brings the right experience and the right approach to the CIA,” Thune said. “I look ahead to working with him in his new position,” Thune added as reported by The Hill.
Although he has been confirmed, Republicans couldn’t process him as quickly as they had hoped. Thune and other Republican leaders hoped to confirm his appointment by Jan. 21. Yet, Democrats created a final roadblock. They did this to further delay Pete Hegseth’s confirmation to run the Pentagon.
One of the Democratic Senators, Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) pointed to “serious concerns” some of his colleagues had about Ratcliffe as well as questions about his willingness to distance himself from Trump, having been a close ally to the president’s political interest while serving as DNI in 2020.
During the confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe told Democrats that he would keep the CIA apolitical. He also stated he would not fire any agency employees based on their political leanings. Additionally, he affirmed he would not terminate anyone for their opposition to President Trump.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ratcliffe are now confirmed. Senate Republicans plan to move on to the other half of Trump’s national security team. This will happen “in the coming days,” according to Thune.
