Trump intel nominee Gabbard faces senators and rough confirmation path

Former Representative Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of national intelligence, attends to testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025. / REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's choice to be director of national intelligence, pushed back against criticism of past comments on Russia and Syria at a confirmation hearing on Jan. 30, and defended her shifting views on surveillance programs that worry privacy advocates.

Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed doubts about the choice of Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democrat and combat veteran with little intelligence experience, to serve as the nation's top spy overseeing all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.

Trump's announcement of Gabbard in November sent shockwaves through the national security establishment, adding to concerns that the sprawling intelligence community will become politicized under a second Trump administration.

Senator Tom Cotton, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he supported Gabbard's nomination even before his committee began the hearing on Jan. 30.

"I support Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination," Cotton said on Fox News. "I’ve been working with her to move towards confirmation, and I look forward to working with her for four years."

But support from Cotton does not mean Gabbard will win committee support. It has nine Republicans and eight Democrats, meaning one Republican "no" on the panel could force Cotton to take the unusual step of sending the nomination to the full Senate without committee backing.

Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent. She backed Trump and joined the Republican Party in 2024.

Senators said they want to question Gabbard about her views seen as sympathetic to Russia in its war against Ukraine, her opposition to U.S. military intervention in Syria and a 2017 meeting with Moscow-backed former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when he was under U.S. sanctions.

"You blamed NATO for Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. You rejected the conclusion that Assad used chemical weapons in Syria," said Senator Mark Warner, the committee's Democratic vice chairman, adding that he had serious questions about her judgment.

During the hearing, Gabbard said that Russian President Vladimir Putin started the war in Ukraine.

While in the House of Representatives, Gabbard introduced legislation that would have dropped charges against Edward Snowden, a former government contractor who leaked thousands of National Security Agency documents and then fled to Russia.

Many Republicans, including Cotton, have harshly criticized Snowden as a liar and traitor and said he should "rot in jail."

At the hearing, Gabbard said repeatedly that Snowden broke the law, but declined to give a yes or no answer when Warner asked her if she still considered him a hero.

"The fact is, he also, even as he broke the law, released information that exposed egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programs that are happening within our government that led to serious reforms," Gabbard said.

'UNCONVENTIONAL' VIEWS

In remarks opening the hearing, Cotton acknowledged some of Gabbard's views as "unconventional," but said, "Maybe Washington could use a little more unconventional thinking."

He said Gabbard's success will depend on her ability to cut the size of the ODNI, contending what was intended to be a "lean agency" has become "another unruly bureaucracy" that should not have more than a few hundred personnel.

Gabbard has also taken positions that worry senators from both parties concerned that government programs to thwart foreign attackers, including those exposed by Snowden, violate Americans' right to privacy.

Gabbard once sought to repeal Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a government authority that raises privacy concerns, but reversed her stance after she was nominated for the intelligence post.

Some Trump nominees have sailed through the confirmation process. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a Republican senator, was confirmed unanimously on Jan. 20, the day Trump was inaugurated.

But others have struggled.

Gabbard's hearing came as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick to lead the top U.S. health agency, came under attack at a hearing from Democrats who accused him of covering up anti-vaccine views and embracing conspiracy theories.

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth was confirmed on Jan. 24 as secretary of defense, surviving criticism of his lack of management experience and personal conduct. But he was only the second cabinet pick ever to require a tie-breaking vote from the vice president after three of Trump's Republicans - Senators Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski - joined every Democrat in voting against him.

Collins, who has not said how she would vote on Gabbard, is a senior member of the intelligence committee. Among other things, she questioned Gabbard during the hearing about her views on Snowden.

In the full Senate, if Democrats unite against Gabbard as expected, she can afford to lose the backing of only three of Trump's Republicans to become DNI.