Ratcliffe, a former Texas representative and director of national intelligence during Trump’s first administration, is expected to be confirmed to run the Central Intelligence Agency next week, once Trump’s second term begins.

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There is a “need for the CIA to continue, and increase in intensity, its focus on the threats posed by China and its ruling Chinese Communist Party,” Ratcliffe told lawmakers. “As DNI, I dramatically increased the intelligence community’s resources devoted to China. I openly warned the American people that, from my unique vantage point as the official who saw more U.S. intelligence than anyone else, I assessed that China was far and away our top national security threat.”

“This is our once-in-a-generation challenge,” Ratcliffe added. “The intelligence is clear.”

The committee’s chairman, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), highlighted what he perceived as the CIA’s recent shortcomings during his opening remarks.

“In these dangerous times, our intelligence agencies haven’t anticipated major events or detected impending attacks in just the last few weeks,” Cotton said, referencing the Islamic State group-inspired attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, and the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“Suffice it to say we’re too often in the dark,” the Arkansas senator added. “While this goes with the entire intelligence community, the problem is especially acute at CIA, which remains, after all, the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA needs to get back to its roots but must overcome several challenges to do so.”

Ratcliffe was elected to Congress in 2014 and served until he resigned during his third term to serve as DNI. Trump initially announced his intention to nominate Ratcliffe to serve as DNI in 2019, but it was met with backlash from Democrats, and he withdrew the idea days later. The former and incoming president then decided to renominate him in 2020, and the Senate confirmed him in a party-line vote, 49-44.

The top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), recognized that Ratcliffe has “an appreciation for the work done by [the] intelligence committee and, more specifically, the CIA.”

The ranking member added that he’s “very concerned” about Trump’s continued “undeserved attacks upon the professional women and men of our intelligence agencies,” and he asked for Ratcliffe’s assurance that the “intelligence will represent the best judgment of the CIA, regardless of political implications or views.”

The CIA is one of 18 agencies that make up the intelligence community, which is overseen by the director of national intelligence. Trump picked Tulsi Gabbard to run the Office of the Director of National Intelligence this time, though her nomination is facing uncertainty despite the GOP’s control of the Senate.