Washington The Senate approved the second high-level nomination for the new Trump administration on Thursday, voting to confirm John Ratcliffe as the next director of the CIA.
Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as Trump’s director of national intelligence for the final eight months of his first term, won the vote 74–25. Together with their Republican counterparts, twenty-one Democrats endorsed the nomination.
After the confirmation vote, Vice President JD Vance swore Ratcliffe in, the CIA announced in a statement Thursday night.
This week, Republican leaders had to clear certain procedural hurdles after failing to secure unanimous support to expedite Ratcliffe’s nomination to the floor.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., stated that he opposed Ratcliffe not because of our political differences, which are undoubtedly present, but rather because he was extremely concerned that Mr. Ratcliffe would not be able to confront individuals who have a history of fabricating intelligence, such as Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard. Mr. Ratcliffe will have to base his decisions as CIA director on facts and intelligence.
Trump has named Gabbard, a former Democratic congressman from Hawaii, as his pick for national intelligence director.
Ratcliffe pledged during his confirmation hearing to avoid using loyalty tests to hire or fire CIA employees and to keep politics out of intelligence-related decisions.
Ratcliffe was confirmed as Trump’s national intelligence director in May 2020 by a slim Senate vote of 49-44, but he was met with widespread Democratic resistance because of doubts about his competence and accusations that he overstated his national security credentials on his resume.
Hours after Trump’s inauguration, the Senate overwhelmingly decided on Monday to expedite and approve Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
Given that a single senator may block speedy voting, other Trump nominees may face much greater obstacles than Ratcliffe. A confirmation vote in the Senate might take several days for any nominee who encounters opposition.
Vice President JD Vance’s vote broke the stalemate, but all nominees need 51 or 50 votes to be confirmed.
Next up for voting are Trump’s candidates for homeland security, Kristi Noem, and defense, Pete Hegseth, according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. Next on the agenda is Scott Bessent, Trump’s choice to head the Treasury Department.
Thune has accused Democrats of “stalling President Trump’s nominees” and threatening to keep the Senate in session over the weekend if they don’t give in and permit swift voting.
In a floor address on Thursday, he stated, “We can do it that way if Democrats want to spend their evenings and weekends soliciting votes on uncontroversial nominations. “But one way or the other, these nominees will be confirmed.”