The Senate confirmed John Ratcliffe as CIA director with a 74-25 vote, making him the first to hold both the roles of director of national intelligence and CIA director. Ratcliffe aims to enhance the CIA's technological capabilities, particularly in artificial intelligence, to improve intelligence operations against countries like Russia and China. Despite skepticism from some Democrats concerning his neutrality, Ratcliffe's experience as a Trump supporter and former federal prosecutor was praised by Republicans. His confirmation comes amid criticisms of CIA's focus on non-traditional issues, signaling potential shifts in agency priorities under his leadership.
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.
Ratcliffe said that if confirmed, he would push the CIA to do more to harness technologies such as AI and quantum computing while expanding the use of human intelligence collection.
While some Democrats raised questions about Ratcliffe's ability to lead the CIA objectively, Republicans hailed his experience and said they looked forward to confirming the rest of Trump's national security nominees.
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.
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