President Donald Trump has once again nominated U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe to serve as the next Director of National Intelligence.
Trump had previously offered him the post in July of last year, but Ratcliffe declined after a week. At the time, Trump said he had withdrawn his name in order to avoid “going through months of slander and libel” by the media.
But in a surprise tweet on Friday afternoon, Trump said he had renominated Ratcliffe for the position and that he “would have completed process earlier, but John wanted to wait until after IG Report was finished.”
I am pleased to announce the nomination of @RepRatcliffe (Congressman John Ratcliffe) to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Would have completed process earlier, but John wanted to wait until after IG Report was finished. John is an outstanding man of great talent!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2020
Ratcliffe, the third-term congressman from Northeast Texas, formerly served as the mayor of Heath and as a U.S. attorney before being elected to represent Texas’ 4th Congressional District in 2014. Before Ratcliffe won the 2014 Republican primary, the district had been held by the late Congressman Ralph Hall for more than 30 years. Hall was a 17-term incumbent when Ratcliffe unseated him.
Should Ratcliffe be confirmed to the position, it would open up a special election for his congressional district, which encompasses a stretch of Red River counties north of Dallas; Rockwall County just east of Dallas; and most of the northeast corner of the state, including Texarkana.
