U.S. Senate committees have been busy this week as several of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet nominees face tough questions from lawmakers during their confirmation hearings.

Appearing Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, John Ratcliffe, Trump's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, received a rather warm welcome.

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Ratcliffe — a former Texas Congressman who also previously served in Trump's first administration as the Director of National Intelligence — fielded questions from both Democratic and Republican Senators about his vision for the nation's premier spy agency that's responsible for conducting foreign operations and gathering critical information on U.S. adversaries.

Ratcliffe said his goal is to bring a renewed focus to the CIA by bolstering U.S. intelligence gathering, while focusing resources on evolving technologies that superpowers like China and Russia may use against us.

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"Today we face what may be the most challenging national security environment in our nation's history," Ratcliffe said. "The Chinese Communist Party remains committed to dominating the world economically, militarily, and technologically,"

"Transnational criminal organizations are flooding American communities with violence and deadly narcotics," he continued. "The Russia-Ukraine war wages on, spreading devastation and increasing the risk of the United States being pulled into a conflict with a nuclear power."

Sen. Tim Cotton, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the panel is expected to vote Monday to move forward with Ratcliffe's nomination.