The Senate voted 49-44 to confirm Republican Congressman John Ratfcliff as the next Director of National Intelligence Thursday afternoon, bringing the tenure of Acting DNI Richard Grenell to a close.
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— Senate Republicans (@SenateGOP) May 21, 2020
The United States Senate has confirmed John Ratcliffe as our new Director of National Intelligence. @ODNIgov
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Before the vote, Senator Chuck Grassley took to the Senate floor to heap praise on Grenell and advocated that Ratcliff follow his lead on transparency.
"Acting Director Grenell understood that. He is perhaps one of the most transparent government officials in my time serving the great people of Iowa. He is a breath of fresh air," Grassley said. "Mr. Ratcliffe has some big shoes to fill, that’s for sure. Luckily, he has Acting Director Grenell’s example to guide him."
Grenell was tapped by President Trump as Acting DNI in February and was given a mandate to "clean house." He's fulfilled that mission by firing political, bad actors inside the intelligence services, by releasing crucial documents about the Obama administration's targeting of the Trump campaign and has started implementing badly needed reforms of the National Security Council. In other words, he's been clearing out the deep state.
Congratulations, @RepRatcliffe! You will be the best DNI ever! #USA https://t.co/2iVS80aAMB
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) May 21, 2020
Before serving as Acting DNI, Grenell was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany where he strengthened U.S. relationships and held Europeans leaders accountable to major agreements like NATO.
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