John Ratcliffe Confirmed As Director Of National Intelligence

The United States Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Republican Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe as the permanent Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

The vote was 49-44. Sens. Alexander, Burr, Markey, Murkowski, Murray, Rounds, and Sanders, did not vote. This comes after the previous DNI Dan Coates announced his resignation July 2019, Trump then revealed his nomination of Ratcliffe on Twitter shortly after.

Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) speaks during a House Judiciary Committee markup hearing on the Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Longworth House Office Building on Thursday December 12, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harrer – Pool/Getty Images)

In August 2019, Trump withdrew his nomination, saying there would be a difficult confirmation process. The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joseph Maguire, served as Acting Director between August 2019 and February 2020. Richard Grenell, has been serving as Acting Director since Feb. 20, 2020.

Trump then re-appointed Ratcliffe for the position in February.

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