The U.S. Senate voted to confirm John Ratcliffe as director of the Central Intelligence Agency on Jan. 23, 2025. The Senate voted 74-25 in favor of his nomination with all 53 Republicans and 21 Democrats voting in favor. This was the second member of President Donald Trump’s (R) Cabinet confirmed in his second presidential term. 

Trump announced on Nov. 12, 2024, that he had selected Ratcliffe as his nominee for secretary of state. Trump said of Ratcliffe’s nomination, “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our nation’s highest intelligence positions.” The Senate Intelligence Committee held a confirmation hearing for Ratcliffe on January 15, 2025, and voted 14-3 to advance his nomination.

Ratcliffe formerly served as director of national intelligence, a Cabinet-level position, from 2020 to 2021. He is also a former member of the U.S. House, representing Texas’ 4th Congressional District from Jan. 6, 2015, to May 22, 2020. Before being elected to Congress, Ratcliffe served as the mayor of Heath, Texas, from 2004 to 2012. He also worked as a U.S. attorney and federal terrorism prosecutor before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

At the time of Ratcliffe’s confirmation, he was the second member of Trump’s Cabinet who had been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. 

A presidential Cabinet is a group of senior federal officials who advise the president on the issues and activities of their respective agencies. The number of officials in a Cabinet can vary across presidential administrations. While not explicitly identified in the Constitution, the Cabinet secretaries are the 15 agency heads who are in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also part of the Cabinet.

During Trump’s second term, the following offices were also Cabinet-rank positions: White House chief of staff, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. trade representative, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the director of National Intelligence, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, and the ambassador to the United Nations.