Gabbard, an Army Reserve officer whose antiwar views are seen as sympathetic to Moscow, is considered an unconventional choice to lead U.S. spy agencies.

Inside the US intelligence community, a deep wariness about a second Trump administration has set in, stoked by memories of the antagonistic relationship the nation’s spy agencies had with Donald Trump the last time he was president.

Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence for the final months of Trump’s first term, leading the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.