The Senate voted to substantiate Tulsi Gabbard to function director of nationwide intelligence on Wednesday, with Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the one member of his celebration to vote towards President Donald Trump’s nominee.
The vote was 52 to 48. No Democrats voted in assist for the previous lawmaker.
Gabbard has been considered one of Trump’s most contentious nominees due to her previous remarks on overseas adversaries and issues about whether or not she has the expertise to do the job. However Republican senators — lots of whom had expressed reservations about Gabbard as DNI — overwhelmingly backed her nomination.
Whereas McConnell’s workplace didn’t instantly launch an announcement explaining his vote, it’s consistent with his resolution to vote no on one other controversial Trump choose, now-Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Gabbard will now oversee the work of the nation’s 18 spy businesses – the identical intelligence neighborhood that she has expressed skepticism of prior to now. As DNI, she can even function President Trump’s major intelligence adviser.
As soon as seen as a rising star within the Democratic Occasion, Gabbard has traversed from the left flank of her former celebration, backing Bernie Sanders for president in 2016, to endorsing Trump eight years later. Her previous overseas coverage views have defied straightforward categorization and have brought on alarm amongst lawmakers on each side of the aisle.
She has been criticized for a 2017 assembly with Syria’s then-President Bashar al-Assad who had been remoted by the worldwide neighborhood for his use of chemical weapons towards his personal residents. She additionally has echoed Russian speaking factors over the wars in Ukraine and Syria. And whereas in Congress she introduced a resolution calling for the federal authorities to drop all prices towards former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked a trove of labeled paperwork to the press.
However President Donald Trump defended her “fearless spirit” as he introduced her nomination in November. She turned a staunch defender of Trump after becoming a member of the Republican celebration in 2024, campaigning on his behalf forward of the election.
Gabbard can be an Iraq conflict fight veteran, and her expertise serving abroad within the Military Nationwide Guard left her deeply skeptical of abroad U.S. navy intervention, aligning her with the rising isolationist wing of the Republican celebration.
Throughout a contentious affirmation listening to final month, Republican and Democratic senators quizzed Gabbard about her previous remarks on the conflict in Ukraine, her views of a controversial authorities surveillance authority generally known as part 702 and her 2017 journey to Syria the place she additionally met with a distinguished cleric, Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, who had beforehand threatened to unleash a wave of suicide bombers in the USA.
In her new position, Gabbard wields immense energy on paper however it’s unclear who Trump will finally favor as his precept intelligence advisor with John Rafcliffe, a loyal ally, on the helm of the CIA.
In her affirmation listening to, Gabbard’s views on Snowden turned a selected flashpoint, with Republicans becoming a member of Democrats in urgent her to name him a traitor. His 2013 leak is broadly seen as a disaster by U.S. intelligence officers. Snowden now resides in Russia.
Gabbard acknowledged that Snowden had damaged the regulation, however declined to handle questions of whether or not he was a traitor.
“The very fact is, he additionally, at the same time as he broke the regulation, launched data that uncovered egregious, unlawful and unconstitutional applications which can be taking place inside our authorities,” Gabbard mentioned throughout the listening to. She has mentioned she would encourage intelligence officers to make use of established whistleblower channels to securely report their issues.
Republican senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John Curtis (Utah) had additionally been carefully watched as potential swing votes on Gabbard, however each finally voted to substantiate her as DNI.
“Whereas I proceed to have issues about sure positions she has beforehand taken, I recognize her dedication to rein within the outsized scope of the company,” Murkowski mentioned in an announcement on Monday.
In a submit on X on Wednesday morning, Curtis outlined his considering. “After working by means of a course of, analyzing her nomination, consulting with consultants, and following my conscience, I will likely be voting for Tulsi Gabbard as Director of Nationwide Intelligence,” he wrote. “Anybody that adopted my course of is aware of my vote wasn’t predetermined, however the truth that my trusted colleagues within the intelligence neighborhood supported her was vital.”
Democrats have been fast to warn that Gabbard may very well be a legal responsibility in her new submit.
“Tulsi Gabbard is notorious for defending despots — together with Vlaidmir Putin and Bashar al-Assad — and traitors resembling Edward Snowden,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-In poor health.), mentioned in an announcement shortly after Wednesday’s vote.
The Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence was established within the wake of the 9/11 terror assaults to reinforce intelligence sharing throughout the U.S. authorities. Critics argue that it has grown too massive and has added one other layer of paperwork to the intelligence neighborhood.
Gabbard’s promise to streamline the workplace have been welcomed by Republicans, amid efforts led by Elon Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity to winnow down the federal workforce.
“I’m glad that Ms. Gabbard plans to give attention to figuring out and eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies to revive the workplace to what it was initially designed to do,” Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) mentioned in remarks on Monday night.
Federal staff at ODNI and numerous different intelligence businesses have acquired deferred resignation affords from the Trump administration regardless of earlier statements by the Workplace of Personnel Administration that these working in nationwide safety can be exempt.
