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, given her past comments sympathetic to Russia, a meeting she held with now-deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad and her previous support for government leaker 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 will take over the top intelligence post as Trump works to reshape vast portions of the federal government. Intelligence agencies including the CIA have issued voluntary resignation offers to staffers, while cybersecurity experts have raised concerns about Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency gaining access to sensitive government databases containing information about intelligence operations.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created to address intelligence failures exposed by the September 11, 2001. Republicans have increasingly criticised the office, saying it has grown too large and politicised. Trump himself has long viewed the nation’s intelligence services with suspicion.
GOP senators who had expressed concerns about Gabbard’s stance on Snowden, Syria and Russia said they were won over by her promise to refocus on the office’s core missions: coordinating federal intelligence work and serving as the president’s chief intelligence adviser.
“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,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, adding that Gabbard will bring “independent thinking” to the job.
Democrats noted that Gabbard had no experience working for an intelligence agency and said her past stances on Russia, Syria and Snowden made her a poor choice for the job. They also questioned whether she would stand up to Trump if necessary and could maintain vital intelligence sharing with American allies.
“It is an insult to people who have dedicated their lives and put themselves in harm’s way to have her confirmed into this position,” said Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA analyst,, D-Mich., about members of America’s intelligence service.
Until GOP support fell into place, it was unclear whether Gabbard’s nomination would succeed. Given the 53-47 split in the Senate, Gabbard needed virtually all Republicans to vote “yes.” Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base has pressured senators to support Trump’s nominees, and Elon Musk, the president’s ally, took to social media recently to brand Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., as a “deep-state puppet.” 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.
Gabbard’s past praise of Snowden 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 US surveillance programmes.
Gabbard said that while Snowden disclosed important facts about such programmes that she believes are unconstitutional, he violated rules about protecting classified secrets. “Edward Snowden broke the law,” 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 legitimising a dictator, and then there were more questions when she said she was sceptical 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.
“I asked him tough questions about his own regime’s actions,” Gabbard said.
She also has repeatedly echoed Russian propaganda used to justify the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. In the past, she opposed a key US surveillance programme known as Section 702, which allows authorities to collect the communications of suspected terrorists overseas.
