Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term and is the first person to have held that position and the top post at the CIA, the nation’s premier spy agency. The Texas Republican is a former federal prosecutor who emerged as a fierce Trump defender while serving as a congressman during Trump’s first impeachment.
The vote was 74-25.
At his Senate hearing last week, Ratcliffe said the CIA must do better when it comes to using technology such as artificial intelligence to confront adversaries including Russia and China. He said the United States needed to improve its intelligence capabilities while also ensuring the protection of Americans' civil rights.
Ratcliffe has said he views China as America's greatest geopolitical rival, and that Russia, Iran, North Korea and drug cartels, hacking gangs and terrorist organizations also pose challenges to national security.
He supports the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a government spying program that allows authorities to collect without warrant the communications of non-Americans outside the country. If those people are communicating with Americans, those conversations can be swept up, too, which has led to questions about violations of personal rights.
Trump and other Republicans have criticized the work of the CIA and other spy agencies, saying they have focused too much on climate change, workforce diversity and other issues.
Former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was confirmed earlier this week as secretary of state, the first member of Trump's Cabinet.
