WASHINGTON — Republicans hesitated on Monday to embrace President Trump’s choice for the director of national intelligence, and some privately expressed doubts about his potential confirmation, echoing concerns of experts and Democrats that he was too inexperienced and too partisan.

Mr. Trump’s pick, Representative John Ratcliffe of Texas, could face an uphill battle, Senate Republicans said in private conversations. Several said they wanted to keep the intelligence post apolitical, and Mr. Ratcliffe will need to show he can move beyond the die-hard conservative persona that has made him a star in the House and on Fox News but less well known among senators who will decide whether to confirm him.

Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee, including its chairman, Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, said they were unfamiliar with the congressman. “I don’t know John Ratcliffe,” Mr. Burr said. “I talked to him on the phone last night — it’s the first contact I’ve ever had with him. I look forward to getting to know him, and if I get an official nomination, I’ll process it through the committee.”

Another Republican committee member, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who helped craft the 2004 law that created the position of director of national intelligence, said the job should be filled by someone “with the integrity and skill and ability to bring all the members of the intelligence community together.”