Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to be Director of National Intelligence has been approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee despite concerns about her past comments regarding Russia and Edward Snowden. The vote was 9-8 along party lines, with no Democrats supporting her. Gabbard's lack of formal intelligence experience and controversial past stances have drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. She will now face a vote in the full Senate, where she will need near-unanimous Republican support to be confirmed.
The Senate Intelligence Committee advanced the nomination of former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday despite concerns raised about her past comments. A former Democratic congresswoman, Gabbard is one of Trump’s most divisive nominees, with lawmakers of both parties also pointing to her past support for government leaker Edward Snowden .
But the Senate Intelligence Committee advanced her nomination in a closed-door 9-8 vote, and it now heads to the full Senate for consideration. A vote has not been scheduled yet. Following a contentious confirmation hearing last week, where some Republican senators questioned Gabbard harshly, GOP support for her fell into place following a pressure campaign over the weekend unleashed by Trump supporters and allies, including Elon Musk. Until three GOP members seen as swing votes announced their support, it wasn’t clear her nomination would advance beyond the Intelligence Committee. Given strong Democratic opposition and thin Republican margins, Gabbard will need almost all GOP senators to vote yes to win confirmation to the top intelligence job. Given the sensitive nature of the work it does, the Intelligence Committee regularly meets privately, and Tuesday’s vote on Gabbard was held during such a session. While the votes of members of the committee were not released, support for Gabbard has fallen along party lines, with no Democrats expressing support. 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, however, and has never run a government agency or department. Gabbard's past praise of Snowden drew particularly harsh questions during the nomination hearing. The former National Security Agency contractor fled to Russia after he was charged with revealing classified information about surveillance programs. Gabbard said that while Snowden revealed important facts about surveillance programs she believes are unconstitutional, he violated rules about protecting classified secrets. “Edward Snowden broke the law,” she said. A 2017 visit with Syrian President Bashar Assad is another flash point. Assad 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 more questions when she said she was skeptical that Assad had used chemical weapons. Gabbard defended her meeting with Assad, saying she used the opportunity to press the Syrian leader on his human rights record. She has also repeatedly echoed Russian propaganda used to justify the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and in the past opposed a key U.S. surveillance program.
TULSI GABBARD INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY SENATE CONFIRMATION DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE RUSSIA EDWARD SNOWDEN SYRIA
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