Senate signs off on John Ratcliffe as Trump's CIA director

• Twenty-one Democrats joined all 53 of the chamber's Republicans in backing him.
• Ratcliffe's confirmation tees up Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth as the next Trump Cabinet member the Senate will vote on.
• A Trump loyalist, Ratcliffe has vowed to eliminate political biases and "wokeness" in the agency's workforce policies, and instead focus on "the mission."

The big picture: In announcing Ratcliffe's selection, Trump thanked him for "exposing fake Russian collusion" and "telling the truth" about Hunter Biden's laptop — signs the president-elect sees him as aligned with his political goals.

• The Senate Intelligence Committee voted 14-3 Monday to approve his nomination.
• A former member of Congress from Texas, Ratcliffe, 59, served as the director of national intelligence from 2020 to 2021 during Trump's first administration.
• Trump previously nominated Ratcliffe as DNI in 2019, but he withdrew after some senior Republicans quietly opposed his nomination, and amid reports he had overstated his experience. Trump nominated him successfully a year later.