Gabbard sworn in as top intelligence official
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of national intelligence in a 52-48 vote that demonstrated President Donald Trump’s political control over Republican lawmakers, and she was sworn in hours later in the Oval Office.
Gabbard had one of the most contentious confirmation hearings of all of the president’s nominees. Several Republican senators joined Democrats in asking tough questions about her previous support of Edward Snowden, a former government contractor who released reams of classified data, and her skepticism about warrantless wiretaps of overseas communications.
Her defense of Bashar Assad, the former Syrian dictator, and her sympathy toward President Vladimir Putin of Russia also gave some Republican lawmakers pause.
But in the end only one Republican was willing to oppose her. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the former majority leader, voted against her.
McConnell said he voted against her because the director of national intelligence should not be someone “with a history of alarming lapses in judgment.”
“Entrusting the coordination of the intelligence community to someone who struggles to acknowledge these facts is an unnecessary risk,” he said in a statement.
McConnell has taken stances against several of Trump’s nominees, but so far has not persuaded many in his caucus to join him.
Before the floor vote, the Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee fell in line and backed Gabbard’s confirmation. Some, like Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, highlighted Gabbard’s pledges to streamline the office. Others, like Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, emphasized her vows to hold accountable people who leaked classified information and to help reauthorize overseas surveillance programs.
That support from skeptics paved the way for Gabbard’s confirmation by the full Senate. Republicans cited her military experience — Gabbard is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve — and her support of Trump’s agenda.
“She has been a consumer of intelligence for many years, giving her valuable insight into the intelligence needs of our government and military,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
Democrats remained united against her. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said Gabbard was not qualified. He said that in a secret vote, she would have received little Republican support. He said he was troubled by her “long record of weakness” against Russia.
“We simply cannot in good conscience trust our most classified secrets to someone who echoes Russian propaganda and falls for conspiracy theories,” Schumer said.
Schumer said there was pressure on Republicans to support Gabbard. In recent weeks, supporters of Trump have made huge numbers of calls on behalf of Gabbard. Some members of Trump’s coalition see Gabbard as a key voice in their movement and have demanded more traditional Republican senators back the president’s choices.
Gabbard was sworn in by Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday afternoon, with Trump in attendance at the Oval Office. He praised Gabbard and said that, despite her former leadership role with the Democratic Party, “She was never a Democrat.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s most important job, arguably, is overseeing the President’s Daily Brief, an intelligence summary assembled each morning. In Gabbard, Trump will have someone aligned with his foreign policy views supervising those updates.
During his first term, Trump grew irritated when briefers lingered too long on Russian influence operations. He often wanted briefings focused on economics and trade. He also liked the agency’s insights on world leaders he was meeting, or with whom he hoped to make deals.
Gabbard shares Trump’s skepticism of mainstream views of Russia as a grave national security threat. She also, like Trump, is deeply critical of the long overseas wars the United States became embroiled in during President George W. Bush’s administration.
Still, there are limits to the office’s power and influence. While it sets broad goals for collecting intelligence, the individual spy agencies have latitude to set their own collection targets and collection goals.
Those limits, along with Gabbard’s commitment to rein in the office’s work, persuaded Republican lawmakers that opposing her nomination was not worth the political risk.
Gabbard’s fierce opposition to foreign wars, and frequent appearances on Fox News, have made her a darling of the Trump wing of the Republican Party. Elon Musk, the president’s ally, attacked at least one senator, Young, who was thought to be wavering on his support for Gabbard. Musk initially called Young a “deep state puppet,” then retracted his comment after speaking with him. Young denied he had spoken to Musk about Gabbard but later announced his support for her.
Gabbard has said her first moves will be to depoliticize the organization, a frequent refrain among Trump’s nominees. In a statement after being sworn in, she said that she understood the importance of delivering “accurate, unbiased, and timely intelligence” to the president.
“Unfortunately, trust in the intelligence community is at an all-time low,” Gabbard said. “President Trump’s reelection is a clear mandate from the American people to end the weaponization and politicization of the I.C.”
She has previously cited the faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as one example. She has said information from intelligence agencies was used to falsely portray Trump as a puppet of Putin.
She has also criticized former intelligence officials for a letter suggesting that material from Hunter Biden’s laptop could be Russian disinformation.
Some former officials expect her to halt the work of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which watches for threats against the election from adversaries.
She is also expected to press intelligence agencies to scour their files for any information on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that has not yet been released.
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.