The Senate has confirmed former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe to head the CIA Thursday.
The vote was 74-25.
What some may not know though is that the nation's spy chief is familiar with North Texas. Ratcliffe was born in the Chicago suburbs but calls North Texas his home.
Ratcliffe was a former Heath mayor, who served eight years, and was the 4th District Congressman of Texas. He also served as U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas.
He was a frequent federal analyst on NewsRadio 1080 KRLD as well.
"This is an individual that is, you know, following a twisted version of the Quran that interprets Holy struggle, I mean Holy War," Ratcliffe said one time on air.
He was one of KRLD's legal analysts for several years before he decided to run against longtime Rockwall congressman Ralph Hall.
Ratcliffe unseated Hall in 2014 and five years later was named President Trump's director of national intelligence during the first term. It was something Ratcliffe pointed out during his hearing this week.
"I served as the chief of anti-terrorism and national security and then US Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas," Ratcliffe said. "As a congressman, I was a member of the House Intelligence, Homeland Security, and Judiciary Committees."
As the CIA director, Ratcliffe has a daunting number of adversaries he's watching.
"The Chinese Communist Party remains committed to dominating the world economically," Ratcliffe said. "Transnational criminal organizations are flooding. American communities, the Russia-Ukraine war wages on, spreading devastation and increasing the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies continue to export mayhem across North Korea and remain a destabilizing force."
Ratcliffe is the country's 9th CIA director.
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