Mr. Ratcliffe was known as a loyalist to the president when he served as director of national intelligence in the final year of the first Trump administration. During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week, he promised to lead a more aggressive spy agency.

Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, faces a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Thursday on advancing his nomination. The vote will occur after lawmakers consider the nomination of John Ratcliffe for CIA director.

FILE - Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe waits to board Marine One with President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick ...

A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

Pete Hegseth was confirmed as defense secretary late Friday by the U.S. Senate after Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie as Senate president.

Three Republicans voted with every Democrat against Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Pentagon, forcing Vance to step in and put Hegseth over the top.

Pete Hegseth was sworn in to lead the Department of Defense on Saturday, after a narrow vote in the Senate. The vote on Friday night was initially 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance then casting the tie-breaking vote.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aiming to declassify remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Trump said, “Everything will be revealed.”

While President Donald Trump starts his second term many of his cabinet nominees are still awaiting confirmation in the Senate.

The Senate confirmation of Pete Hegseth as Donald Trump’s next Secretary of Defense was hung up late Friday evening in a last-minute nail-biter vote following several misconduct allegations that threatened to tank his nomination.

A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

Trump’s pick to be director of the FBI, loyalist KASH PATEL, was already expected to have a much easier path to confirmation than director of national intelligence nominee TULSI GABBARD. Gabbard has faced a barrage of bad headlines in recent weeks, along with open expressions of doubt from Senate Republicans.