Some Republican senators have indicated they’re undecided about whether they’ll vote to confirm President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, as questions are raised about her comments about Russia and interactions with foreign adversaries like Syria’s president.
Former U.S. Representative from Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard speaks as Republican presidential nominee, ... [+]
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” the Senate “will have a lot of questions” when asked if anything about Gabbard concerns him, adding, “it’s really important that we have leadership there that’s able to support” the intelligence community.
Gabbard has faced criticism over her links to foreign adversaries, including a 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, comments about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that some critics viewed as sympathetic and her criticism of Trump’s strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., have also expressed some reservations about Gabbard.
Rounds said he was “going to take a look” at her resume in comments to the Jewish Insider, and Cornyn told the Associated Press he “would want to ask her about that” when asked about her stances on Russia, though Cornyn added, “I have no doubt that she’s a patriot,” referencing her military service.
Collins told the Jewish Insider there “are questions that I would want to ask her,” noting, “I’ve heard a lot of speculation about where she is in terms of Russia, for example.”
Some Democrats on Sunday issued sharp criticism of Gabbard: Incoming Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Gabbard had “very questionable judgment,” while Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who is an Iraq war veteran, told CNN she thinks Gabbard is “compromised,” referencing her meeting with Assad.
Collins said Gabbard is “a nominee that illustrates the importance of a full background check, a public hearing and the constitutional role of the Senate on advice and consent, rather than doing some sort of recess appointment,” a process Trump has suggested to allow him to confirm nominees when the Senate is not in session without its approval.
Gabbard, or any of Trump’s nominees, can afford to lose only three Republican votes to be confirmed by the Senate, assuming all Democrats vote against the nominee, as the GOP will control the chamber with a 53-47 majority. Vice President-elect JD Vance would cast a tie-breaking vote if three Republicans vote no.
Some Republicans defended Haley against Democrats’ criticism on Sunday. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told CNN Duckworth’s statement that Gabbard is “compromised” were “ridiculous and outright dangerous,” adding, “that’s the most dangerous thing she could say—that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army is compromised and is an asset of Russia.” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told NBC it is “totally ridiculous” to characterize Gabbard as “an asset of another country,” calling it “insulting” and “a slur.”
Gabbard is a former Democrat who became an independent after leaving Congress, and announced last month she joined the Republican Party and was endorsing Trump. Gabbard, first elected to the Hawaii State House at the age of 21 in 2002, left after one term when she was deployed to Iraq with the National Guard. She was elected to Congress in 2013 and served until 2021. Gabbard ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 before dropping out of the race and endorsing President Joe Biden. She’s known for clashing with members of her party on foreign policy, often opposing foreign interventions—but drawing criticism for backing the views of Russia and other U.S. adversaries. In announcing she was cutting ties with the Democratic Party in 2022, Gabbard called it an “elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by radicalizing every issue.” Gabbard is perhaps best-known for clashing with Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2019, when she noted Harris oversaw marijuana convictions while working as a prosecutor in California.
Gabbard has blamed NATO and the Biden administration for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, writing on X in 2022, “this war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO.” She also criticized the U.S. for sending aid to Ukraine and baselessly accused the Biden-Harris administration of “prioritizing sending more weapons to Ukraine over the interests of the people of North Carolina” recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Helene, she wrote on X last month. In 2022, she said it was an “undeniable fact” that there are 25 U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine that could leak dangerous pathogens, as Russia baselessly accused the U.S. and Ukraine of operating biological weapons facilities as a pretext for its war in Ukraine (though Gabbard did not allege bioweapons were being made).
Gabbard said during a 2019 MSNBC appearance Assad—who used brutal tactics, allegedly including chemical weapons, to beat back a civil war, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths—“is not the enemy of the United States” because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States. Gabbard later said she viewed Assad as a “brutal dictator.” She also brought a Syrian Kurdish leader, Ilham Ahmed, Co-President of the Syrian Democratic Council, as a guest to Trump’s State of the Union address in 2019. During her time in Congress, she quietly met with Assad in Syria, explaining she “felt that it’s important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we’ve got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we can achieve peace.”
Trump touted Gabbard’s military record in announcing the appointment on Nov. 13 in a statement: “For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans.” Trump said, “Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength.” Gabbard has criticized Trump in the past: She called Trump’s 2017 strikes on Syria “reckless,” and during a 2020 appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Gabbard called the killing of Soleimani an “act of war” and said Trump violated the Constitution by ordering the strike.
36%. That’s the share of respondents to a CBS/YouGov poll released Sunday who said Gabbard is a good choice for director of national intelligence, while 27% said she’s not good and 36% said they haven’t heard enough.
Gabbard is one of several controversial, and surprising, Trump cabinet picks Republicans have expressed skepticism about, including former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary. Trump announced his cabinet nominees at a rapid clip, largely completing the process Saturday with the nomination of Brooke Rollins, a former policy advisor during his first term, as agriculture secretary. As director of national intelligence, Gabbard would oversee 18 intelligence agencies and advise the president, National Security Council and Homeland Security Council on intelligence matters.
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