A majority of the U.S. Senate on Thursday backed President Donald Trump's nominee John Ratcliffe, a former House of Representatives member who served as Director of National Intelligence during Trump's first term,

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

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate confirmed former Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe to serve as the next director of the CIA on Thursday.

The Senate is poised to confirm John Ratcliffe as CIA director on Thursday as Republicans work to approve officials to the top posts in his administration amid delays by Democrats.

John Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during Trump's first term and is the first person to have held that position and the top post at the CIA.

John Ratcliffe, former director of national intelligence during President Trump's first term, has been confirmed by the Senate to lead the CIA — the first person to have held both jobs.

The former Texas lawmaker and prosecutor was Trump's national intelligence director in his first term. He vowed to reject White House political pressure

Ratcliffe, 59, is now the first person to have served as both director of national intelligence and chief of the CIA.

Ratcliffe, Trump’s former director of national intelligence, sought to reassure senators that he would remain apolitical in his role as CIA director.

Five days after assuming the White House, President Donald Trump is racking up a number of wins and losses after issuing a flurry of executive orders. On Friday, he travels to disaster-hit states of North Carolina and California while new developments play out over his immigration policy and cabinet confirmations.

President Donald Trump is heading to hurricane-battered western North Carolina and wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Friday, using the first trip of his second administration to tour areas where politics has clouded the response to deadly disasters.