The US Senate has given the ‘green light’ this Thursday to the nomination of John Ratcliffe, who was Director of National Intelligence during the first term of now President Donald Trump, as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The vote was 74 votes in favor against 25 against. At least 21 Democratic senators have supported the nomination of Ratcliffe, who was Director of National Intelligence between 2020 and 2021 during Trump’s first term, according to NBC News.
Previously, he was a Republican congressman for the state of Texas, a position he held for five years in which he focused on “national security issues” as a member of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees and Chairman of Cybersecurity on the Homeland Security Committee.
Ratcliffe will succeed William Burns, who has held the post since March 2021. In November, the tycoon chose Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who joined the Republican Party in October, as his candidate for Director of National Intelligence.
