Former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe was named head of the CIA

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President-elect Donald Trump plans to name former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Trump-Vance transition team announced Tuesday.

Ratcliffe, an ardent defender of the president-elect, represented Texas' 4th Congressional District in the northeastern part of the state until he was selected as Trump's director of national intelligence in 2020. His congressional seat was filled by U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Sherman.

“John Ratcliffe has always been a fighter for truth and honesty to the American public,” Trump said in a statement. “He will be a fearless fighter for the constitutional rights of all Americans while ensuring the highest level of national security and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”

The Republican-controlled Senate must confirm Ratcliffe's nomination when Trump takes office.

If confirmed, Ratcliffe would be the first person to lead both the CIA and national intelligence, according to the announcement. The CIA director manages the agency's activities—including intelligence collection, foreign threat analysis, and covert action campaigns—and reports to the director of national intelligence, who oversees the broader U.S. intelligence community.

Ratcliffe gained a reputation as one of Trump's staunchest allies on Capitol Hill. He defended the president during his impeachment hearings, helped advance the investigation into Hunter Biden and gained notoriety for lambasting former special counsel Robert Mueller during a congressional hearing.

He is among the first Texans Trump selected for his second administration and is part of a long list of Texas Republicans with close ties to the president-elect.

Trump on Tuesday also named Texas-based billionaire Elon Musk to head a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. DOGE, Trump said, will “provide advice and guidance from outside government” to “advance large-scale structural reforms and create an entrepreneurial approach to government like never before.”

Ratcliffe's original nomination to be national intelligence chief was thwarted in 2019 after he withdrew his name following a Washington Post report that he had exaggerated parts of his biography, including his role in leading an immigration raid when he was a federal prosecutor in the East District of Texas. Democrats also opposed his nomination, arguing he was unqualified to oversee the intelligence community and raising concerns that he would use the position to Trump's political advantage.

Ratcliffe's appointment as national intelligence director found support among Republicans, including U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said at the time that Ratcliffe had the “personal integrity and intelligence to make the difference between being a lawmaker.” understand and as Director of National Intelligence.

Ratcliffe defended his record and Trump nominated him for the post again a few months after removing himself from the race. He was confirmed by the Senate in 2020 by a vote of 49-44.

“John has done a great job as DNI and I am confident he will lead the CIA better than anyone in history,” Fallon said in a text message Tuesday after the announcement.

In June 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the events leading up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, announced that Ratcliffe had warned White House staff against making attempts in the lead-up to the insurrection to overturn the 2020 election.

“It was thought to be dangerous to the president’s legacy,” former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said of Ratcliffe’s thinking in her testimony to the panel. “He had expressed to me that he was concerned that it could get out of control and potentially be dangerous to our democracy or the way things go forward [Jan.] 6.”

Ratcliffe was hired as an assistant federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Texas in 2004 and was named counterterrorism chief. He was also elected mayor of Heath, a suburb east of Dallas, where he had opened a law firm.