WASHINGTON – The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence after Republicans who had initially questioned her experience and judgment fell in line behind her nomination.
Gabbard was an unconventional pick to oversee and coordinate the country’s 18 different intelligence agencies, givenย her past comments sympathetic to Russia, a meeting sheย held with now-deposed Syrian President Bashar Assadย and her previous support for government leakerย Edward Snowden.
Gabbard, a military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was confirmed by a 52-48 vote, with Democrats opposed in the sharply divided Senate where Republicans hold a slim majority. The only “no’ vote from a Republican came from Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
She is the latest high-ranking nomineeย to win Senate confirmationย as the new administration works to reshape vast portions of the federal government, including the intelligence apparatus.
Staffers at the CIA and other intelligence agencies have receivedย buyout offers, while lawmakers and security experts have raised concerns about Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiencyย accessing databasesย containing information about intelligence operations.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created to address intelligence failures exposed by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Republicans have increasingly criticized the office, saying it has grown too large and politicized. Trump himself has longย viewed the nationโs intelligence services with suspicion.
GOP senators who had expressed concerns about Gabbardโs stance on Snowden, Syria and Russia said they were won over by her promise to refocus on the officeโs core missions: coordinating federal intelligence work and serving as the presidentโs chief intelligence adviser.
โWhile 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,โ said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, adding that Gabbard will bring โindependent thinkingโ to the job.
McConnell, the former GOP leader, said in a statement after the vote that in his assessment, Gabbard brings โunnecessary riskโ to the position.
โThe nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the President receives are tainted by a Director of National Intelligence with a history of alarming lapses in judgment,” McConnell said.
At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, โI think weโre greatly disappointed in any Republican who chooses willfully to vote against the presidentโs exceptionally qualified nominees.โ
McConnell alsoย voted against confirming Pete Hegsethย for defense secretary.
Democrats noted that Gabbard had no experience working for an intelligence agency and they said her past stances on Russia, Syria and Snowden were disqualifying. They also questioned whether she would stand up to Trump if necessary and could maintain vital intelligence sharing with American allies.
โWe simply cannot in good conscience trust our most classified secrets to someone who echoes Russian propaganda and falls for conspiracy theories,โ said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who suggested that Republicans were only supporting Gabbard because of pressure from Trump.
โIs Ms. Gabbard really who Republicans want to lead intelligence agencies? Iโll bet not,โ Schumer said.
Until GOP support fell into place, it was unclear whether Gabbardโs nomination would succeed. Given the 53-47 split in the Senate, Gabbard needed virtually all Republicans to vote โyes.โ
Trump’s โMake America Great Againโ base hasย pressured senators to support Trumpโs nominees, and Elon Musk, the president’s ally, took to social media recently to brand Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., as a โdeep-state puppet.โ Young had raised concerns about Gabbard but announced his support after speaking with Musk. The post was deleted after they spoke, and Musk later called Young an ally.
Gabbard is a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who deployed twice to the Middle East and ran for president in 2020. She has no formal intelligence experience and has never run a government agency or department.
Gabbardโs past praise ofย Snowdenย drew particularly harsh questions during her confirmation hearing. Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, fled to Russia after he was charged with revealing classified information about U.S. surveillance programs.
Gabbard said that while Snowden disclosed important facts about such programs that she believes are unconstitutional, he violated rules about protecting classified secrets. โEdward Snowden broke the law,โ she said.
Gabbard’s 2017 visit with Assad was another flashpoint. He was recently deposed following a brutal civil war in which he was accused of using chemical weapons.
Following her visit, Gabbard faced criticism that she was legitimizing a dictator, and then there were more questions when she said she was skeptical that Assad had used such weapons.
Gabbard defended her meeting with Assad, saying she used the opportunity to press the Syrian leader on his human rights record.
โI asked him tough questions about his own regimeโs actions,โ Gabbard said.
She also has repeatedly echoedย Russian propagandaย used to justify the Kremlinโs invasion of Ukraine. In the past, she opposed a key U.S.ย surveillance programย known as Section 702, which allows authorities to collect the communications of suspected terrorists overseas.
