Senate confirms Tulsi Gabbard to head up US intelligence agencies

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, in an apparent rejection of concerns from both Democrats and Republicans about her fitness to oversee the country’s intelligence community.

Lawmakers approved the former Democratic lawmaker turned Trump surrogate on a party-line, 52-48 vote. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to oppose her nomination on the floor, breaking with his party to vote alongside the entire Democratic caucus.

In the months leading up to Wednesday’s vote, Gabbard’s ascent to the country’s top intelligence position seemed far from guaranteed. She faced criticism from both sides of the aisle over her history of pro-Russia statements and 2017 meeting with Syria’s then-President Bashar al-Assad.

During a January confirmation hearing in the Senate Intelligence Committee, the former Hawaii U.S. representative rejected the notion that she was beholden to any foreign government and sought to reassure the Senate that she would separate politics from her role overseeing U.S. intelligence agencies.

But she faced sharp questions from lawmakers who, among other things, needled her on her opinion of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden — for whom Gabbard requested a pardon in 2020. The nominee acknowledged that Snowden had violated the law by leaking classified documents about U.S. government surveillance but refused to say whether he should be considered a traitor.

Despite a tense performance in the Intelligence Committee, though, Republican opposition to Gabbard’s nomination all but evaporated in the weeks leading up to her confirmation vote.

And in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, Wyoming Senator and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said she had the right background, experience and perspective to be director of national intelligence. He called concerns from Democrats about Gabbard’s patriotism “disturbing” and argued that there was “no evidence” to support their claims.

“Washington wants to trust our intelligence agencies again,” Barrasso said. “We need to take an axe to the weaponization of these very agencies. Congresswoman Gabbard will keep politics out of intelligence gathering.”

Democrats contended that Gabbard had sidled up to Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and could not be trusted to handle classified information and lead the intelligence community.

“I ask my Republican colleagues to think about the safety of the American people, the concerns of our allied and the threats posed by the likes of Vladimir Putin before casting this vote,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor Wednesday. “Objectively, I think most senators would agree that there are certainly better choices to lead our national intelligence.”

The top Senate Democrat accused his Republican colleagues of bowing to pressure from the White House to support Gabbard’s nomination, arguing that she would not pass muster on a secret ballot of GOP lawmakers.

“People know, that’s why they raise so many questions,” Schumer said of Gabbard’s qualifications. “But Donald Trump and Elon Musk evidently threaten them, and they’re changing their view.”

Gabbard represented Hawaii’s Second Congressional District in Congress from 2013 to 2021. She ran against former President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential primary but later dropped out and endorsed his candidacy.

After leaving Congress, Gabbard faced scrutiny for her comments on Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including statements which appeared to back the conspiracy theory that there were U.S.-funded bioweapon laboratories in the country. She also suggested that Moscow had been provoked into invading Ukraine.

The former Democratic lawmaker endorsed Trump’s candidacy in 2024 and later announced that she would become a Republican.

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