US Senate Confirms Trump’s CIA Nominee John Ratcliffe
The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of John Ratcliffe as the new Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Senate voted 74-25 in favor of Ratcliffe, with 20 Democrats and one independent joining the Republicans in supporting the nomination.
Ratcliffe, a former congressman from Texas, was previously the Director of National Intelligence in Trump’s first term. He is known for his vocal skepticism of the intelligence community and his criticism of the US investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
During his confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe expressed confidence in the US ability to counter Russia and China and promised to investigate documented cases of the so-called Havana Syndrome, a mysterious illness affecting US personnel and believed to be caused by foreign actors.
The syndrome, first reported in 2016 at the US embassy in Cuba, includes symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, hearing loss, memory problems and concentration difficulties. Since then, similar reports have emerged in China, Russia, South America, Australia and many other countries, with over 1,500 suspected cases registered worldwide.
Despite the US government’s inability to find a cause for the syndrome, a report from the National Intelligence Council in January found that five intelligence agencies believe it is “very unlikely”that a foreign actor is behind the syndrome, while two unnamed sources think there is a “fairly equal possibility”that a foreign actor could have used a “new weapon”to attack US diplomats abroad.
Moscow has consistently denied any connection to the syndrome, calling the allegations “unfounded media reports.”
Trump’s nominee for the Director of National Intelligence is former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a one-time Democrat who joined the Republican Party in 2021. Gabbard, a former Army officer, served in Iraq and Kuwait in the 2000s and was a US representative for Hawaii from 2013 to 2021.
Ratcliffe has announced his intention to return to “apolitical”work at the CIA, hinting that under his leadership, the agency may see the departure of employees with political or personal biases.