Several Democratic senators on Monday suggested that President Donald Trump made a poor choice in nominating Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, to be the next director of national intelligence, Politico reports.
Trump announced on Sunday that Ratcliffe, a former U.S. attorney and mayor of the small town of Heath, Texas, will replace outgoing Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who is set to leave office on August 15.
"I don't know this guy," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on MSNBC. "I think he's a television character that the president has watched on TV, and he wants to put somebody in this position who's going to agree with his political take on intelligence."
"I'll certainly do my own evaluation, but it strikes me as a very inappropriate choice for the job in a moment when we are trying to lift intelligence out of the political soup," Murphy added, saying that Ratcliffe has become "one of the president's accomplices in trying to politicize intelligence."
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., questioned Ratcliffe's experience and background while predicting that Democrats will be reluctant to confirm him.
"I'm not sure he's qualified for the job," Peters said on CNN.
"The president doesn't want people to challenge him, and when you think about an intelligence director, you want independent advice," he added. "You want to have the best available intelligence to make decisions that are based on facts and reality. That is not something our current president wants."
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