Ratcliffe faced a brief delay to his nomination from Democrats questioning his independence from President Donald Trump.

President Trump's nominees for top posts in his administration are gearing up for their Senate confirmation hearings, which kicked off earlier this month.

Former Congressman John Ratcliffe is the nation's new CIA director after the Senate voted 74-25 in favor of his confirmation on Thursday.

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.

Republicans kept the Senate working Saturday to install the latest member of Trump’s national security team on a 59-34 vote.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) moved a step closer to leading the Department of Homeland Security as the Senate voted on Friday to advance her to a final confirmation vote. Senators voted

The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as the head of the Department of Homeland Security on Saturday with some Democrats backing the South Dakota governor's nomination. The chamber voted 59-34 to confirm Noem who will head up a federal agency that will be at the forefront of President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration.

Along with this week’s roll call votes, the House also passed a bill (H.R. 207), to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force regarding shark depredation.

Another pick, John Ratcliffe for CIA director ... voted to move the nominations of Hegseth and Ratcliffe. And the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee advanced nominees Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary and Russell Vought as director ...

John Ratcliffe previously served as the Director of National Intelligence, confirmed as the Director of the CIA to serve in US President Donald Trump's administration.