Instant partisan divide after Ratcliffe hearing: Burr backs intel chief pick, Schumer opposes

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Support for Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence split down party lines almost instantaneously as his confirmation hearing wrapped up in the Senate on Tuesday.

Sen. Richard Burr, R.-N.C., released a statement supporting Ratcliffe soon after hearing from him Tuesday.

“He has committed to working with our Committee and with Congress to ensure proper oversight and information sharing. And he has pledged to support the men and women of the Intelligence Community in their steadfast work,” Burr said. “I look forward to advancing Congressman Ratcliffe’s nomination and supporting it when it comes before the full Senate.”

WHO IS JOHN RATCLIFFE, TRUMP'S NOMINEE FOR DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE? 

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On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., not only condemned the idea of Ratcliffe serving as director of national intelligence but questioned why the Senate was even wasting time on the confirmation during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We could be using our time here to address a number of urgent priorities, whether it’s rescuing our ailing health system, increasing testing capacity, assisting small businesses, renters and homeowners, or providing vigorous oversight of legislation we have already passed,” said the New York Democrat. “But instead of these pressing matters, we’re talking about nominations.”

“This is an extremely important post that demands a candidate with deep experience and credibility on both sides of the aisle, and above all the ability to speak truth to power. Rep. Ratcliffe meets none of this criteria,” Schumer added.

Schumer called him a “deeply partisan cheerleader for the president” and a “yes man in the worst sense of the phrase,” adding that “80 or 90 percent” of Americans would reject Ratcliffe if they knew his views.

Other Republicans, like Sen. John Cornyn of Texas emphasized their support for Ratcliffe.

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"I know John Ratcliffe. He's a person of great integrity, a former United States Attorney that's served with distinction on the House Intelligence Committee," said Cornyn. "I know he understands the difference between that adversarial role and the role of director of national intelligence. And I think he'll do a good job."

President Trump first nominated Ratcliffe, a member of the House Intelligence, Judiciary, and Ethics Committee, for the position last year, but the Texas Republican withdrew his name last August after bitter partisan confirmation process. Trump then said in February he would nominate him again.

Ratcliffe was a staunch defender of the president in the Russia probe, and Democrats previously argued he lacked experience for the job. Ratcliffe said his work as a former federal prosecutor gave him the experience to be an objective leader of the nation’s 17 intel agencies.

“Let me be very clear,” Ratcliffe said in the hearing Tuesday. “Regardless of what anyone wants our intelligence to reflect, the intelligence I will provide, if confirmed, will not be impacted or altered as a result of outside influence.”