Senate Intelligence panel approves Ratcliffe as spy chief

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday endorsed the confirmation of Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) to be the nation’s top intelligence official.

The panel approved Ratcliffe as President Donald Trump’s next director of national intelligence in a straight party-line vote, 8 to 7, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the committee’s top Democrat, told reporters after a closed-door meeting. Ratcliffe would be the first permanent spy chief since Dan Coats stepped down last August.

The vote tally was much different from when the committee approved Coats in 2017, 14 to 2.

“I think there were many of the same concerns that were raised when he first came up in August,” Warner told POLITICO.

While the nomination must still be confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate, Tuesday’s vote marks a remarkable turnaround for Ratcliffe, whom Trump floated almost a year ago to oversee the country’s 17 intelligence agencies. The Texas Republican withdrew his name from consideration just days later in the face of tepid support from the Senate GOP, along with concerns about his thin resume and partisan attitude about government investigators.

Ratcliffe’s withdrawal set off a monthslong merry-go-round at the leadership of the clandestine community, as the president selected counterterrorism chief Joseph Maguire to temporarily assume the DNI post. Maguire ruined his chances of becoming the permanent chief earlier this year after Trump heard he had authorized congressional briefings on Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2020 campaign.

Trump then replaced Maguire as acting DNI with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who possessed limited intelligence experience but began making a series of organizational changes to the country’s spy agencies. Those included last week’s announcement that the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, which is part of ODNI, would take over election security briefings for political candidates and organizations.

Ratcliffe, who was elected to Congress in 2015, sits on the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees and was a member of Trump’s impeachment defense team. He drew national attention in a hearing last year where he accused former special counsel Robert Mueller of treating Trump unfairly during his probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Donald Trump is not above the law. He’s not. But he damn sure shouldn’t be below the law, which is where volume 2 of this report puts him,” Ratcliffe said at the time. He was referring to the volume of the Mueller report that declines to reach a conclusion about whether the president had obstructed the Russia investigation.

Ratcliffe worked hard at shedding the image of a partisan Trump acolyte during his confirmation hearing earlier this month.

“Let me be very clear: Regardless of what anyone wants our intelligence to reflect, the intelligence I provide, if confirmed, will not be impacted or altered as a result of outside influence,” Ratcliffe said. He added that he would give intelligence briefings to the president even if he knew Trump would disagree with the conclusions, or if he believed it risked his job.

Tuesday’s vote came the day after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tapped Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to temporarily serve as the Intelligence committee’s chairman, after Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) decided to step aside while he faces an FBI investigation into his stock trades.

If confirmed by the full Senate, Warner said he hopes Ratcliffe “will execute the job in the way he described during the hearing.” Warner added that it’s “never more important than right now” to maintain the integrity and independence of the intelligence community.

Ratcliffe is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate in a vote likely to be held after Memorial Day, according to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)