Tulsi Gabbard Senate nomination: Donald Trump Jr says any Republican senator voting against her deserves a primary

Tulsi Gabbard

The Senate Intelligence Committee has scheduled a hearing to review the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence on January 30.

Donald Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr took to X and spoke about Gabbard's senate confirmation. He said any Republican senator voting against Gabbard's senate nomination should be primaried.

Any Republican Senator who votes against @TulsiGabbard deserves a primary. No more Deep State bullshit!!!! https://t.co/Tg08whJhQPDonald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 23, 2025

Gabbard is expected to face a tougher road to confirmation due to criticism over her previous comments supportive of Russia and meetings with then Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017. At the time, she defended the meeting, calling it a a "fact-finding mission," but in 2019 she described him as a "brutal dictator," reported CBS News.

Trump had earlier suggested the Senate should bypass the traditional process of confirming cabinet nominees and allow temporary appointments to be made without a full vote in the upper chamber. That's something Republicans in the Senate have pushed back on.

Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider, compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions.