The First Nomination as Tragedy, the Second as Farce
John Ratcliffe’s nomination exposes a Senate majority that has ceded its powers to Trump.
If at first you don’t succeed, you can always hope the Senate’s fecklessness will rescue you. Just ask Representative John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican and—for the second time—President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence.
Trump announced plans to nominate Ratcliffe to the post last summer, then withdrew him, after it became clear that Ratcliffe had practically no qualifications for the job, and those he did have were badly misrepresented. Yet now Ratcliffe seems like he might actually end up as DNI. This week, Senator Susan Collins, the Republican from Maine, said she’d support his nomination in committee, meaning he’s likely to go to the full Senate for a vote.
It’s a travesty that Ratcliffe would be nominated
