The Senate confirmed the nomination of John Ratcliffe as CIA Director in a 74-25 vote. Ratcliffe is the second Trump nominee to be confirmed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he voted against Ratcliffe “not because of our political difference, which of course exists — but because I am deeply worried that Mr. Ratcliffe will be unable to stand up to people like Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard, who are known to falsify intelligence.”
“As CIA Director, Mr. Ratcliffe will have to make decisions based on intelligence and fact. There may be no agency more important than the CIA that has to be fact-based. Sometimes, these facts will lead to inconvenient conclusions for his superiors and the president,” Schumer said. “It’s in those cases where truth, not fiction, not ideology, must prevail, and I have my doubts that Mr. Ratcliffe will be able to hold firm.”
Upon nominating Ratcliffe, then-President-elect Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am pleased to announce that former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe will serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).”
“From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBl’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public,” he wrote. When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People.”
Ratcliffe also previously served as a U.S. representative for Texas.
