John Ratcliffe (American politician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Ratcliffe
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Official portrait, 2025
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| 9th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency | |
| Assumed office January 23, 2025 |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Michael Ellis |
| Preceded by | Bill Burns |
| 6th Director of National Intelligence | |
| In office May 26, 2020 – January 20, 2021 |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Neil Wiley |
| Preceded by | Dan Coats |
| Succeeded by | Avril Haines |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 4th district |
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| In office January 3, 2015 – May 22, 2020 |
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| Preceded by | Ralph Hall |
| Succeeded by | Pat Fallon |
| Mayor of Heath | |
| In office June 14, 2004 – May 14, 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Chris Cuny |
| Succeeded by | Lorne Liechty |
| United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas | |
| Acting May 21, 2007 – April 29, 2008 |
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| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Matthew D. Orwig |
| Succeeded by | Rebecca Gregory |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Lee Ratcliffe
October 20, 1965 Mount Prospect, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Michele Addington |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Notre Dame (BA) Southern Methodist University (JD) |
John Lee Ratcliffe (born October 20, 1965) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the ninth director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since 2025. He previously served as the sixth director of national intelligence from 2020 to 2021 and served in the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2020.
After graduating from law school, Ratcliffe worked as a lawyer in private practice until 2004. Ratcliffe served as mayor of Heath, Texas, from 2004 to 2012 and acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of Texas from May 2007 to April 2008. Ratcliffe was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2014, representing Texas's 4th district until 2020. During his time in Congress, Ratcliffe was regarded as one of the most conservative members. President Donald Trump announced on July 28, 2019, that he intended to nominate Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence. Ratcliffe withdrew after Republican senators raised concerns about him, former intelligence officials said he might politicize intelligence, and media revealed Ratcliffe's embellishments regarding his prosecutorial experience in terrorism and immigration cases.
On February 28, 2020, Trump announced that he would again nominate Ratcliffe to be director of national intelligence, and after Senate approval, he resigned from the House, and was sworn in on May 26.
On November 12, 2024, president-elect Trump announced that he would nominate Ratcliffe to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was confirmed by the Senate on January 23, by a vote of 74–25, and assumed office later that day.
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Early life and education
Born in Mount Prospect, Illinois, northwest of Chicago, Ratcliffe was the youngest of six children; both of his parents were teachers. He graduated from Carbondale Community High School in Carbondale, Illinois; from the University of Notre Dame in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts in government and international studies; and the Southern Methodist University School of Law (now Dedman School of Law) with a Juris Doctor in 1989.
Career
After graduating from law school, Ratcliffe was a lawyer in private practice; he left his law firm in 2004 to join the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Texas.
Ratcliffe was elected to four consecutive two-year terms as mayor of Heath, Texas, a city of about 7,000 people, 25 miles east of downtown Dallas. He served in that position from June 2004 to May 2012.
Eastern District of Texas
In 2004, president George W. Bush appointed Ratcliffe to be the chief of anti-terrorism and national security for the Eastern District of Texas, within the U.S. Department of Justice. In May 2007, Ratcliffe was named interim U.S. attorney for the district. Ratcliffe returned to private law practice when Rebecca Gregory was confirmed by the Senate as the permanent U.S. attorney for the district in April 2008.
Ratcliffe's campaign website said that, as a federal prosecutor Ratcliffe "personally managed dozens of international and domestic terrorism investigations involving some of the nation’s most sensitive security matters" and "put terrorists in prison." There is, however, no evidence Ratcliffe ever prosecuted a terrorism case.
Ratcliffe also misrepresented his involvement in the U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, claiming “there are individuals that currently sit in prison because I prosecuted them for funneling money to terrorist groups." ABC News reported that there was no evidence in public court records that Ratcliffe was involved in the case, and that former officials and attorneys involved in the case could not recall that Ratcliffe was involved.
Ratcliffe's official House of Representatives biography says that while working as prosecutor for the Eastern District, he "arrested 300 illegal aliens in a single day". The Washington Post noted in a story about how Ratcliffe embellished his record that Ratcliffe played a supporting role in an effort to bust illegal immigrants and that his office arrested only 45 individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants (including two who turned out to be American citizens). Officials involved in the immigration enforcement dispute that Ratcliffe played a central role in the raid.
2009–2014
In 2009, Ratcliffe became a partner with former attorney general John Ashcroft in the law firm Ashcroft, Sutton, Ratcliffe.
In 2012, Ratcliffe was part of a transition team, established before that year's general election by Republican candidate Mitt Romney, to vet potential Presidential appointees.
U.S. House of Representatives (2015-2020)
2014 election
In late 2013, Ratcliffe announced that he would run in the Republican primary against 17-term incumbent congressman Ralph Hall of the 4th district. At 91, Hall was the oldest member of Congress and the oldest person ever to serve in the House of Representatives. The Dallas Morning News said that Ratcliffe was Hall's "most serious political challenge in years." No Democrat even filed, meaning that whoever won the primary would be all but assured of victory in November.
In a primary campaign during which Hall had begun to look increasingly vulnerable, Ratcliffe received the endorsement of the Dallas Morning News, which applauded Hall's long record of public service but cited Ratcliffe's "impressive credentials" and the need for "new ideas and fresh energy."
In the March 4 primary, Ratcliffe finished second with 29 percent of the vote, behind Hall's 45 percent. Because Hall came up short of a majority, a runoff election was required. For the May 27 runoff, Ratcliffe was endorsed by the Tea Party Express, the Senate Conservatives Fund, and the Club for Growth. Hall was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund, former congressman Ron Paul, former congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Ratcliffe defeated Hall with 53 percent of the vote, the first time in twenty years that a sitting Republican congressman in Texas had been ousted in a primary. Ratcliffe was one of four candidates to defeat a sitting incumbent U.S. representative in a primary election in 2014.
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In the November 2014 general election, Ratcliffe ran unopposed. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+25, it is the fifth most Republican district in Texas and is tied for the 13th most Republican in the nation.
2016 election
On March 1, 2016, Ratcliffe easily defeated two challengers in the Republican primary, getting 68 percent of the vote, 47 percentage points ahead of the second-place finisher. Once again, no Democrat filed to run in the November general election. In the general election, Ratcliffe defeated a third-party candidate with 88% of the vote.
2018 election
On November 6, 2018, Ratcliffe won re-election to a third term with nearly 76 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic challenger Catherine Krantz and Libertarian challenger Ken Ashby.
Tenure
When Ratcliffe took office on January 3, 2015, he became only the fifth person to represent the 4th District since its creation in 1903. All but one of his predecessors had held the seat for at least 25 years.
Ratcliffe was a member of the Republican Study Committee and the Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus. In late 2018, Ratcliffe was reportedly considered for the role of attorney general by the Trump Administration.
Committee assignments
During the 114th Congress (2015–2017), Ratcliffe sat on the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, where he was a subcommittee chair on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. During the 115th Congress (2017–19), Ratcliffe was a member of the Ethics, Judiciary, and Homeland Security committees. Within the Homeland Security Committee, he was a member of the subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency and chaired the subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection. Within the Judiciary Committee, he was a member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations and vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law.
During the 116th Congress (2019), Ratcliffe sat on the Ethics, Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. Within the Judiciary Committee, Ratcliffe was the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security and a member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet. Within the Intelligence Committee, Ratcliffe was a member of the Strategic Technologies and Advanced Research Subcommittee and Intelligence and Modernization Readiness Subcommittee.
Assignment to president Trump's impeachment team
On January 20, 2020, before the Senate impeachment trial, the Trump administration named Ratcliffe as one of the congressional members of his impeachment team. Upon the announcement, Ratcliffe said, "I took an oath to defend the Constitution. This impeachment is an assault on due process. It’s an assault on the separation of powers. It's unconstitutional. I'm grateful for the opportunity to make that clear to every American during the Senate trial." Ratcliffe worked with the White House for several weeks before the Senate trial to prepare oral arguments and legal briefs. He was tapped for the position based on his legal background and effectiveness during impeachment proceedings in the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees.
Director of National Intelligence (2020–2021)
Nomination and confirmation
President Donald Trump announced on July 28, 2019, that he intended to nominate Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence.
Ratcliffe has little experience in national security or national intelligence and is reported to have demonstrated little engagement on the matters as a congressman.
On August 2, 2019, Trump said in a tweet that he was withdrawing Ratcliffe's name from nomination, claiming that mainstream media scrutiny of Ratcliffe (though using the "lamestream" pejorative in the actual message) was unfair, and would result in "months of slander and libel," while White House sources said that Trump had become concerned about Ratcliffe's chances for confirmation, following feedback from some Republican senators.
On February 28, 2020, president Donald Trump publicly announced Ratcliffe to be his nominee for director of national intelligence. On February 29, 2020, Sen. Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned Trump against re-nominating Ratcliffe. The nomination came to the U.S. Senate on March 3, 2020. The U.S. Select Senate Committee on Intelligence held hearings on May 5, 2020, which started with a letter from former U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft in favor of the nomination. U.S. senator John Cornyn introduced Ratcliffe and supported his nomination. The committee later voted in favor of the nomination on May 19, 2020.
Ratcliffe was confirmed by the Senate on May 21, 2020, by a vote of 49 to 44. He resigned from the House on May 22, and was sworn in on May 26.
Tenure
During his tenure as DNI, although some accused Ratcliffe of using the position to score political points for Trump, other voices in the intelligence community pointed to “obvious evidence that Ratcliffe isn’t playing politics”. Ratcliffe made public assertions that contradicted the intelligence community's own assessments, and sidelined career officials in the intelligence community. At the same time, several of his stances on foreign policy have since gained bipartisan support, including his early warnings about the threats posed to the U.S. by China's intelligence efforts.
Post-administration (2021–2025)
After leaving the Trump administration, Ratcliffe became a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation. There, he was tasked with holding China accountable for the COVID-19 pandemic and "helping Project 2025 build out policy recommendations for intelligence reform in the next presidential administration". Ratcliffe is a contributor to Project 2025, and was interviewed for the project, excerpts of the interview being a part of a chapter on the intelligence community. Ratcliffe served as Co-Chair for the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute from April 2021 until December 2024. In May and September of 2024 Ratcliffe was a Special Guest Speaker for Trump Vance Campaign fundraising events.
Director of the CIA (2025–present)
Nomination and confirmation
In November 2024, Ratcliffe was nominated by Trump to serve as the next director of the CIA. Ratcliffe appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on January 15, 2025. During the hearing, Ratcliffe promised to keep the agency politically neutral and "never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgment or infect our products". Trump formally nominated Ratcliffe, among others, on January 20, 2025, as one of his first acts as president. The Senate Intelligence Committee approved his nomination and the Senate confirmed him on January 23, 2025 by a vote of 74 to 25, making him the second member to be confirmed in the Second cabinet of Donald Trump.
Tenure
Ratcliffe was sworn in by Vice President JD Vance on January 23, 2025. On January 25, the CIA revised its previous estimate of the origin of COVID-19 from "undecided" to "low confidence" in favor of a laboratory leak in Wuhan. In early February, the CIA offered its employees buyouts in return for their voluntary resignations.
In early February, the CIA complied with an Executive Order by Trump to send the White House an unclassified email identifying the first names and last initials of all employees the CIA had hired in the previous two years. Former officials of the CIA have characterized this as disastrous for the United States' capacity to collect counterintelligence on foreign adversaries by having potentially compromised the identity of agents hired in the previous two years, who may now be deemed too risky to deploy.
Political positions
Ratcliffe was considered one of the most conservative members of Congress. In 2016, the Heritage Foundation ranked Ratcliffe as the most conservative Texas legislator in Congress and second-most conservative legislator in the country.
China
Ratcliffe has repeatedly warned that China is the top threat to U.S. and global interests. In December 2020, he said China "intends to dominate the US and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically" and called the country "the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom worldwide since World War Two".
Immigration
Ratcliffe supported president Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to prohibit immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, stating, "I applaud president Trump's actions to ramp up the vetting of refugees attempting to enter our country."
Term limits
When he first ran for Congress, Ratcliffe said that term limits were a central part of his platform.
Cybersecurity
[File:Donald Trump and John Ratcliffe.jpg|thumb|Ratcliffe with President Donald Trump in 2017]] Ratcliffe was chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection during the 115th Congress (2017–19), when Republicans controlled the House.
In March 2014, Ratcliffe oversaw a congressional hearing, "The Current State of DHS Private Sector Engagement for Cybersecurity", that studied ways to get the private sector and the Department of Homeland Security to better cooperate to prevent terrorist activity. He secured testimony from various organizations: the Hitrust Alliance, Intel Security Group, Symantec, Palo Alto Networks, and New America's Open Technology Institute.
On December 16, 2016, Barack Obama signed Ratcliffe's H.R. 5877 "United States-Israel Advanced Research Partnership Act of 2016" into public law. On November 2, 2017, Donald Trump signed Ratcliffe's H.R. 1616 "Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017" into public law.
Net neutrality
In December 2017, Ratcliffe signed a letter from Congress, along with 106 other members of Congress, to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, supporting Pai's plan to repeal net neutrality.
Personal life
Ratcliffe and his wife, Michele, live with their two daughters in Heath, Texas.
Ratcliffe is a Catholic.
