US Senate confirms Trump nominee Ratcliffe as CIA director

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of the U.S. Senate on Thursday backed President Donald Trump's nominee John Ratcliffe, a former House of Representatives member who served as Director of National Intelligence during Trump's first term, as director of the CIA.

The Senate voted to confirm Ratcliffe by 74-25, as 20 Democrats and one independent joined Republicans in backing the nomination.

The Republican-led Senate has been working to confirm Trump's nominees for top positions in his administration as quickly as possible, starting with his national security team.

Former Republican Senator Marco Rubio was confirmed on Monday, the day of Trump's inauguration, and the Senate is due to vote on Friday on Trump's nomination of former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has scheduled a hearing on Jan. 30 for former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's nominee to be Director of National Intelligence in his second term.

Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee questioned Ratcliffe closely during his nomination hearing last week about whether he would fire or force out employees for their political views or opinions about Trump, who frequently has attacked the premier U.S. intelligence agency and its assessments.

Ratcliffe vowed not to do so, and the committee backed him by 14-3 at a meeting on Monday, clearing the way for consideration by the full Senate.

Ratcliffe was Director of National Intelligence, the country's top spy, from May 2020 until Trump left office in January 2021.

Ratcliffe also told his hearing he was confident the U.S. can counter Russia and China, pledged to look into whether U.S. personnel afflicted by "Havana Syndrome" ailments were targeted by an adversary and develop offensive cyber tools.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by David Gregorio, Diane Craft and Nick Zieminski)