Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s pick to become director of national intelligence, was confirmed by the Senate as Republicans ultimately rallied around her nomination.
In a vote that fell mostly along party lines, the upper chamber voted 52 to 48 to confirm Gabbard to oversee and coordinate the work of the 18 intelligence agencies in the United States. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) broke with Trump and voted no.
Despite Gabbard serving in Congress as a Democrat for eight years and as the former vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, no Democrat backed Gabbard’s nomination. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pleaded with Republicans on the floor in the minutes before her vote to block Trump’s “awful” nominee, saying she can’t be trusted with the nation’s secrets.
“This endangers our security,” Schumer said, turning across the aisle to his colleagues, “You all know how bad she is.”
But Republicans defended Gabbard’s service in uniform for more than 20 years, including promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, saying she had the right qualifications and background to keep America safe.
“The attacks on Congresswoman Gabbard are another case of Democrats equating political disagreement with disloyalty,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) said. “If Washington wants Americans to trust our intelligence agencies again, we need to take an axe to the weaponization of those very agencies.”
Republicans too were initially skeptical. She had a turbulent confirmation hearing over her past support for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, previous comments that appeared sympathetic to Russia, and a meeting she had with former Syrian President Bashar Assad led to a turbulent confirmation hearing.
Gabbard’s responses to questions on Snowden ultimately became the hearing’s biggest flashpoint. She repeatedly refused to call Snowden a traitor during her confirmation, even as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle gave the former Democratic congresswoman more than a half-dozen chances to withdraw her past support of Snowden.
Gabbard repeated that Snowden “broke the law” but declined to call him a traitor. She also mentioned that he exposed “egregious, illegal, and unconstitutional programs that are happening within our government.”
During her confirmation hearing, she told senators her opponents accuse her “of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, a guru’s puppet, Modi’s puppet, not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet masters.”
In her opening statement, she described the politicization of intelligence agencies, echoing Trump’s rhetoric. She said Trump’s opponents weaponized the FBI to “falsely portray him as a puppet of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin” and she criticized former Obama Director of Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan.
The former congresswoman from Hawaii received a major boost after a number of Republican senators announced they’d vote for Gabbard, which allowed her nomination to advance out of the Senate Intelligence panel.
Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Susan Collins (R-ME), James Lankford (R-OK), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) appeared at one time to have concerns about Gabbard’s views on several key matters. However, the four indicated they were nore comfortable moving forward with the nomination after a closed session and further conversation. Her chances of confirmation increased following a pressure campaign by Trump allies and Vice President JD Vance.
The lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve has no formal intelligence experience and has never run a government agency or department. Gabbard ran for president in 2020 and dropped out and endorsed President Joe Biden. She later announced she was leaving the Democratic Party in 2022. Days ahead of the 2024 election, Gabbard said she was joining the Republican Party at a Trump rally in North Carolina.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created to address intelligence failures exposed by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Republicans have been critical of the office over the years, claiming it has expanded and become too politicized. Trump too has been suspicious of the nation’s intelligence services.