Hindu-American Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial pick to oversee spy agencies, has been approved by a key Senate committee for Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in a private vote, paving the way for a wider Senate vote on her confirmation.
The Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Intelligence approved Gabbard’s nomination in a closed committee vote of 9-8, along party lines. The full Senate is expected to vote on her confirmation as early as next week, The Washington Post reported.
Gabbard, 43, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, had faced bipartisan skepticism about her suitability for overseeing the spy agencies.
“The Intelligence Committee just voted for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to be the Director of National Intelligence favorably to the full United States Senate,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton told reporters on Tuesday after the closed-door vote. “We look forward to her confirmation and working with her to keep America safe,” he was quoted as saying by The Hill.
The vote took place only hours after Senator Todd Young, a key Republican swing vote, announced that he would support her. Gabbard had secured another big win on Monday as Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she would back her in the committee vote.
A four-term congresswoman, 2020 presidential candidate, and New York Times bestselling author, Gabbard is a veteran with three deployments to war zones in the Middle East and Africa. She recently moved from being a Democrat to a Republican member.
In October 2022, she announced she was leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an Independent. On August 26, 2024, Gabbard formally endorsed Trump for a second term and soon after began serving as co-chair of his transition team. On October 22, 2024, she joined the Republican Party, citing President-elect Trump’s leadership and how he has transformed the party, bringing it back to "the party of the people and the party of peace."
From the moment Trump announced Gabbard as his nominee for DNI, questions have arisen about her past views and statements. These include her 2017 meeting with then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which occurred as he was accused of using chemical weapons on his own people, as well as her stance on Russia. Multiple comments she made about the war with Ukraine were considered sympathetic to Moscow and were echoed on Russian state TV.
As per U.S. law, all Cabinet-ranking positions and several other senior administration roles require Senate confirmation. The process begins with a confirmation hearing by the nominee’s respective Senate committee.
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