The Senate voted Thursday to confirm John Ratcliffe, who was nominated to head the CIA, making him the second of President Trump’s nominees to be successfully confirmed. Ratcliffe was subsequently sworn in on Friday morning.
Prior to Ratcliffe’s confirmation, the Senate confirmed now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday. While Rubio was unanimously confirmed, Ratcliffe was confirmed by 53 Republicans, 20 Democrats, and one independent senator. A total of 24 Democrats and one independent voted against Ratcliffe’s confirmation.
Although Ratcliffe’s confirmation process was relatively frictionless and overall bipartisan, other nominees are facing some hurdles.
Prior to his formal confirmation vote, Ratcliffe was cleared by the Senate Intelligence Committee in a 14-to-3 vote.
“As a former director of national intelligence under the first Trump administration, Director Ratcliffe is well-qualified to lead the CIA and ensure the safety of the American people,” Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska said in a statement Thursday.
Although Ratcliffe’s confirmation process was relatively frictionless and overall bipartisan, other nominees are facing some hurdles.
Republicans are now expected to vote on the confirmation of Pete Hegseth, who was nominated by Trump to head the Department of Defense. While Hegseth has been immensely popular with Trump’s base, he has lost support from senators, including Republicans, due to several allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, and his prior disapproval of women in combat roles.
Notably, many of the allegations were made anonymously and have been vehemently denied by Hegseth.
With the GOP’s narrow 53-seat majority, Hegseth can afford to lose only three Republican votes, assuming that all Democrats vote against him and Vice President JD Vance votes as a tiebreaker.
Two of those three “no” votes have already been claimed by Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Both Murkowski and Collins have a history of bucking Trump and their party.
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Donald trump, John ratcliffe, Cia, Trump administration, Trump cabinet, Trump nominee, Senate republicans, Senate democrats, Senate confirmation, Pete hegseth, Susan collins, Lisa murkowski, Politics
