John Ratcliffe Lays Out a Vision for a More Aggressive C.I.A.

John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for C.I.A. director, offered his vision for a more aggressive spy agency as he faced questions from senators on Wednesday about his decisions to declassify intelligence and ability to deliver unvarnished assessments.

Mr. Ratcliffe’s confirmation is all but assured, and he is likely to be voted on by the full Senate soon after Mr. Trump’s inauguration on Monday. During the first Trump administration, the Senate confirmed Mr. Ratcliffe, 49 to 44, to serve as the director of national intelligence. He was the first national intelligence chief installed without support from the opposition party.

But now, senators from both parties view Mr. Ratcliffe as one of the more qualified senior officials picked by Mr. Trump, whose focus on the threat from China is widely shared by Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

Mr. Ratcliffe used his opening comments to outline his vision of an agency that offers intelligence free of political bias. While he said he would not discuss specific intelligence priorities, he promised he would make the C.I.A. less averse to risk and more willing to conduct covert action when ordered by the president, “going places no one else can go and doing things no one else can do.”

In his opening statement, Mr. Ratcliffe promised that the C.I.A. would collect intelligence in every part of the globe, “no matter how dark or difficult.”

He also pledged that the agency’s analysis would be objective, “never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgment or infect our products.”

Mr. Ratcliffe evoked the C.I.A.’s predecessor — the Office of Strategic Services — and said the ideal recruit for the agency would be a “Ph.D. who could win a bar fight.”

“This sentiment is the essence of what today’s C.I.A. must recapture,” Mr. Ratcliffe said.

Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and the new chairman of the Intelligence Committee, struck similar themes, arguing that the agency needed to be bolder and more innovative with its covert action. Without providing details, Mr. Cotton said the Biden administration’s timidity in its overt actions extended to covert action. “The nation needs a strong and more aggressive C.I.A.,” he said.

Mr. Ratcliffe seems likely to win some Democratic support for this nomination, but how much is unclear. Some Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about whether Mr. Trump’s choices for top intelligence posts will deliver unvarnished information. Mr. Ratcliffe had a close relationship with Mr. Trump, especially at the end of his first administration, and took over some of the intelligence briefing duties often handled by less senior officers.

During Mr. Trump’s first term, Mr. Ratcliffe issued public warnings about election interference in 2020 that drew attention to efforts by Russia, Iran and China to influence the vote. Subsequent intelligence assessments by the Biden administration supported those warnings. But Mr. Ratcliffe also declassified some intelligence related to Russia’s activities in 2016 over the objections of C.I.A. officials who thought the release of the material would harm sources and collection methods. Republican allies of Mr. Trump had sought the material, believing it undermined the case that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 election on behalf of Mr. Trump.

The only tough questioning of Mr. Ratcliffe on Wednesday came from Senators Jon Ossoff, Democrat of Georgia, and Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, who both asked about the decision to release the materiel.

Mr. Ossoff criticized Mr. Ratcliffe for declassifying intelligence on the same day as one of the presidential debates in 2020. Mr. Trump referred to the intelligence in that debate.

Mr. Ratcliffe said he did not recall that the information was released the same day and said that while it was his decision to declassify the material, he was not in charge of the process of its release. He added that steps were taken to protect the sources of the information at the time.

Under questioning from Mr. Kelly, Mr. Ratcliffe said he did not make every decision perfectly but added that “most of the things I have done have aged very well.”

The Democratic minority also asked Mr. Ratcliffe about Mr. Trump’s attacks on the intelligence community and Mr. Ratcliffe’s ability to deliver intelligence that might be at odds with the president-elect’s worldview.

Throughout his first term in office, Mr. Trump attacked the intelligence agencies and their leaders. He has often referred darkly to “the deep state,” a group of national security officials opposed to his agenda. And he and his aides have discussed pushing out government officials whom they view as disloyal to the White House.

Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, said the confidence Mr. Trump had in Mr. Ratcliffe was one of his assets and urged him to work to change the president-elect’s views of the intelligence community.

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, said the hearing was Mr. Ratcliffe’s opportunity to reassure C.I.A. employees that they would not face reprisal for “being willing to speak truth to power.”

Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, asked Mr. Ratcliffe about his views on a provision known as Section 702, which allows the government to collect communications of foreign targets, including when they interact with Americans, without warrants.

Several Republicans senators have raised concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Mr. Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, and her previous criticism of the program. In face of those concerns, Ms. Gabbard has changed her position.

Mr. Ratcliffe said he believed the warrantless collection was an “indispensable national security tool” and said the broader collection under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act accounted for more than half of the actionable intelligence.

But Mr. Trump has been critical of the program at times. Mr. Ratcliffe said that it could be abused and that he supported the enforcement of safeguards placed on the intelligence collection.

“It is an important, indispensable tool,” he said. “But one that can be abused and that we must do everything we can to make sure that it has the appropriate safeguards, because it can’t come at the sacrifice of American civil liberties.”

Under questioning from Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, Mr. Ratcliffe said he would push for reauthorization of the provision. He argued that the statute had been reformed, and that critics needed to offer a way to replace the intelligence that would be lost should the program not be reauthorized.

Mr. Cotton criticized the U.S. intelligence community for failing to anticipate threats, like the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and called on Mr. Ratcliffe to push for changes at the C.I.A. to help the agency “get back to its roots.”

Mr. Cotton praised intelligence officers but said the C.I.A. had neglected its core mission of secretly collecting foreign intelligence. Too often policymakers were “in the dark,” he said.

“Put more simply, stealing secrets,” Mr. Cotton continued. “Intelligence collection is the main effort; every other job is a supporting effort.”

The senator said he had seen too many intelligence reports based on news accounts or diplomatic cables.

“Those sources are not unimportant, but without clandestine intelligence, we might as well get briefed by the State Department or a think tank, or just read the newspaper,” Mr. Cotton said.

He attacked the C.I.A. for being too quick to tailor its intelligence reports to the Biden administration’s views, including Israel’s ability to destroy Hezbollah’s military might. He also criticized the agency’s work to diversify its ranks, saying it had paid too much for consultants focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.

During the hearing, Mr. Ratcliffe said he wanted the C.I.A. to be the “ultimate meritocracy.” He also said he would empower the “courageous risk takers and innovators” but not tolerate anything distracting from the core mission.