WASHINGTON — John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for CIA director, offered his vision for a more aggressive spy agency as he faced questions from senators Wednesday about his decisions to declassify intelligence and ability to deliver unvarnished assessments.

Ratcliffe’s confirmation is all but assured, and he is likely to be voted on by the full Senate soon after Trump’s inauguration Monday. During the first Trump administration, the Senate confirmed Ratcliffe, 49-44, to serve as the director of national intelligence. He was the first national intelligence chief installed without support from the opposition party.

But now, senators from both parties view Ratcliffe as one of the more qualified senior officials picked by Trump, whose focus on the threat from China is widely shared by Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

Ratcliffe used his opening comments to outline his vision of an agency that offers intelligence free of political bias

— The New York Times