He has offered a vision for a more aggressive spy agency, and his focus on the threat from China is widely shared by Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

The US Senate confirmed China hawk John Ratcliffe as the next director of the CIA on Thursday after Democrats had stalled his final floor vote — further setting back the timeline for consideration of President Trump’s other cabinet officials.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate confirmed former Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe to serve as the next director of the CIA on Thursday.

Ratcliffe told senators the CIA must do better when it comes to using technology like artificial intelligence to confront adversaries including Russia and China.

The former Texas congressman said he wanted to the CIA to bring back the recruiting ideal of ‘a Ph.D. who could win a bar fight.’

Ratcliffe, a former director of national intelligence during Trump’s first administration, is expected to be confirmed to run the Central Intelligence Agency.

John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, has told members of the Senate that the nation’s premier spy agency can do better

A majority of the U.S. Senate on Thursday backed President Donald Trump's nominee John Ratcliffe, a former House of Representatives member who served as Director of National Intelligence during Trump's first term,

The Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe as director of the CIA, the second of President Trump’s nominees to earn the chamber’s approval.

The Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency in overwhelming bipartisan fashion, making him the second member of President Trump’s national security team to be approved by the upper chamber.

The former Texas lawmaker and prosecutor was Trump's national intelligence director in his first term. He vowed to reject White House political pressure

The Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe as CIA director, giving President Donald Trump the second member of his new Cabinet.