Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard appears to have cemented her new political home in the GOP, winning Senate confirmation as President Trump’s director of national intelligence with all but one Republican supporting her.
The final vote was 52-48 Wednesday. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former GOP leader, was the only Republican to vote against her, along with all 47 Democrats.
Ms. Gabbard didn’t have an easy road to confirmation as one of Mr. Trump’s unconventional picks with a bevy of past comments and policy positions that alarmed establishment Republicans.
The lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve and former House member from Hawaii ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 before quitting the party two years later to become an independent. Ms. Gabbard joined the Republican Party last year to support Mr. Trump’s presidential bid, earning the DNI nomination as a reward for her support.
Throughout the confirmation process, Republicans raised concerns about Ms. Gabbard, including her past support for pardoning infamous classified intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and a 2017 visit to Syria to meet with President Bashar Assad.
Ms. Gabbard stumbled at times during the hearing, like refusing to call Snowden a traitor, but through private backchanneling was able to win over her GOP skeptics.
She promised senators she would not recommend a pardon for Mr. Snowden and that she would seek justice against any intelligence community employee or contractor who leaks classified information.
Ms. Gabbard also vowed to work with lawmakers to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which she opposed as a member of the House over concerns it lets Americans’ data be caught up in warrantless surveillance of foreigners.
“If confirmed, I will begin with leading by example, checking my own views at the door and committing to delivering intelligence that is collected, analyzed and reported without bias, prejudice or political influence,” Ms. Gabbard said in a letter to Sen. Todd Young, Indiana Republican, ahead of a committee vote on her nomination.
Such commitments were enough to win over most Republicans, but Mr. McConnell was unmoved despite voting for a procedural motion to let her nomination proceed amid a Democratic filibuster.
“When a nominee’s record proves them unworthy of the highest public trust, and when their command of relevant policy falls short of the requirements of their office, the Senate should withhold its consent,” Mr. McConnell said, citing Ms. Gabbard’s “history of alarming lapses in judgment.”
Mr. McConnell named Snowden’s “treasonous betrayal of the United States” and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s responsibility for the war in Ukraine among facts that Ms. Gabbard has questioned.
“Entrusting the coordination of the intelligence community to someone who struggles to acknowledge these facts is an unnecessary risk,” he said. “So is empowering a DNI who only acknowledged the value of critical intelligence collection authorities when her nomination appeared to be in jeopardy.”
Democrats were frustrated that so many Republicans who openly questioned Ms. Gabbard’s qualifications to serve as DNI ultimately voted for her.
“Of all people Donald Trump could have picked to oversee national intelligence, he picked someone known for repeating Russian propaganda and getting duped by conspiracy theories,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said. “Do Republicans honestly think this is the best person for the job?”
Mr. Schumer said he was “proud” all Democrats opposed Ms. Gabbard’s nomination because they can’t trust her to oversee the 18 national intelligence agencies and protect the nation’s most classified secrets.
“The director of national intelligence must be fluent in the truth. But Ms. Gabbard speaks the language of falsities and conspiracy theories,” he said.
Mr. Schumer cited as examples her prior comments suggesting the U.S. supported bioweapon laboratories in Ukraine and casting doubt on whether former Mr. Assad used chemical weapons against his own people — despite intelligence to the contrary.
Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican, said the Democratic attacks on Ms. Gabbard’s patriotism and loyalty are “disturbing,” unfounded and rooted in “political disagreement.”
“If Washington wants Americans to trust our intelligence agencies again, we need to take an ax to the weaponization of those very agencies,” he said. “Congresswoman Gabbard will keep politics out of intelligence gathering.”
Ms. Gabbard “took a hard line on Russia and Iran,” Mr. Barrasso said, citing her past support for severe sanctions against both countries and opposition to President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal.
Several Republicans who had been on the fence about supporting Ms. Gabbard cited her vow to reduce the size of the DNI office to a leaner level as Congress intended when creating it.
“While I continue to have concerns about certain positions she has previously taken, I appreciate her commitment to rein in the outsized scope of the agency, while still enabling the ODNI to continue its essential function in upholding national security,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Republican, said. “As she brings independent thinking and necessary oversight to her new role, I am counting on her to ensure the safety and civil liberties of American citizens remain rigorously protected.”
Sen. John Curtis, Utah Republican, who also struggled with the decision, said he decided to back Ms. Gabbard after consulting with excerpts and following his conscience.
“The fact that my trusted colleagues in the intelligence community supported her was significant,” he said. “I hope she is highly successful in her new role.”
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.