John Ratcliffe

John Lee Ratcliffe (born October 20, 1965) is an American politician and attorney who has been the 9th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency since 2025. He was the 6th Director of National Intelligence from 2020 to 2021. He was the congressman for Texas's 4th district from 2015 to 2020. He was one of the most conservative congressmen during his congressional career.  Before, he was the Mayor of Heath, Texas from 2004 to 2012.

President Donald Trump announced on July 28, 2019, that he intended to nominate Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Ratcliffe withdrew his name five days after some senators raised concerns about his experience.  In February 2020, President Trump announced that he was nominating Ratcliffe to be Director of National Intelligence. Ratcliffe was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 21, 2020 by a vote of 49 to 44.

In November 2024, President-elect Trump announced that he would nominate Ratcliffe to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January 2025.

 Early life 
Ratcliffe was born in Mount Prospect, Illinois, northwest of Chicago. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1987.

Legal career
In 2004, president George W. Bush hired Ratcliffe to be the Chief of Anti-Terrorism and National Security for the Eastern District of Texas, working for the U.S. Department of Justice.Richter, Karl. Only election can fill expected Ratcliffe vacancy, Texarkana Gazette, July 29, 2019. In May 2007, Ratcliffe was named interim U.S. Attorney for the district. 

While running for congress, Ratcliffe was known for lying about his legal career such as about being a lawyer in the U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case. He also lied about arresting 300 illegal immigrants in a single day while serving as prosecutor. The lie was discovered by The Washington Post and Ratcliffe even mentioned it in his congressional website's biography.

Ratcliffe was elected to four two-year terms as mayor of Heath, Texas, serving from June 2004 to May 2012.

In 2009, Ratcliffe became a partner with former Attorney General John Ashcroft in the law firm Ashcroft, Sutton, Ratcliffe.

U.S. House of Representatives
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. In the March 4 primary, Ratcliffe finished second with 29 percent of the vote, behind Hall's 45 percent, leaving to a runoff election. Ratcliffe beat Hall with 53 percent of the vote, the first time in twenty years that a sitting Republican congressman in Texas had lost in a primary.Mark Haslett, Trump Nominates Ratcliffe New Director of National Intelligence, KETR (July 29, 2019). In the November 2014 general election, Ratcliffe ran without a Democratic challenger.Clark Mindock, 30 Members, 1 Senator Running Unopposed , Roll Call (November 3, 2014). He was re-elected in 2016 and 2018.

In a September 2016 hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Ratcliffe questioned then-FBI Director James Comey about whether the FBI's decision not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton in connection with the email controversy.

Ratcliffe was a member of the Republican Study Committee.

On January 20, 2020, before the Senate impeachment trial, the Trump administration named Ratcliffe as one of the congressional members of his first impeachment team.

Director of National Intelligence
President Donald Trump announced on July 28, 2019, that he planned to nominate Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence. Ratcliffe had little experience in national security or national intelligence. Trump's plans to nominate Ratcliffe became controversial when he was found to have lied about his role in prosecuting terrorism and immigration cases.

On August 2, 2019, Trump said in a tweet that he was withdrawing Ratcliffe's name from nomination.

On February 28, 2020, President Donald Trump publicly announced Ratcliffe to be his nominee for Director of National Intelligence again. Ratcliffe was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 21, 2020, by a vote of 49 to 44. He was sworn in on May 26.

Thirty-five days before the 2020 presidential election in November, Ratcliffe declassified 2016 Russian disinformation that said that Hillary Clinton had personally approved a plan to link Trump with Vladimir Putin and Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee. The intelligence community were against the release of the information. Ratcliffe also said that Iran was trying to rig the elections against Trump.

In November 2020, Trump offered the job of U.S. Attorney General to Ratcliffe, however he refused to accept.

Director of the CIA
In November 2024, Ratcliffe was nominated by President-elect Trump to be the next Director of the CIA. Ratcliffe appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on January 15, 2025. The Senate Intelligence Committee approved his nomination and the Senate confirmed him on January 23, 2025 by a vote of 74 to 25. He assumed office later that day.

Personal life
Ratcliffe is married to Michele Ratcliffe and they have two daughters. They live in Heath, Texas.

Ratcliffe is a Roman Catholic.

References

Other websites

 Director of National Intelligence biography


 Money-in-Politics profile from OpenSecrets.org

Category:1965 births
Category:Living people
Category:Lawyers from Illinois
Category:American mayors
Category:United States Directors of National Intelligence
Category:United States representatives from Texas
Category:Politicians from Illinois
Category:Republican Party (United States) politicians
Category:Lawyers from Texas