Tulsi Gabbard One Step Closer To Confirmation With Backing of Senate Intelligence Committee

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is one step closer to being confirmed as the Director of National Intelligence after Republicans on the Intelligence Committee unanimously backed her for the post. She will now head to the floor where little GOP opposition is expected, if at all. Ms. Gabbard was considered one of President Trump’s most controversial nominees when the pick was announced last year, given her past statements about Edward Snowden and Syria’s former leader, President Assad. Her confirmation hearing seemed to quell the concerns of some important swing votes on the committee. “After extensive consideration, conversations with her in my office, attending the hearing, questioning her there, and listening to her in the closed session, I decided … that I will vote for her,” Senator Collins, a member of the committee, said on Monday. Two Republican members of the panel — Senator Lankford and Senator Young — both seemed disturbed by Ms. Gabbard’s refusal to call Mr. Snowden a “traitor” during her confirmation hearing, though they both ended up supporting her on Tuesday. Following the confirmation hearing, Mr. Young sent Ms. Gabbard a letter requesting a series of commitments from her related to prosecutions of those who leak intelligence information. In her response letter, which Mr. Young posted to X, Ms. Gabbard said she would support prosecutions for any “contractor, or subcontractor who is suspected of making or facilitating an unauthorized disclosure of any intelligence program” and work with Congress on new legislation and rules to “deter” leaking. She also said she would not recommend pardons for Mr. Snowden, would keep the committee updated on her travel, and would support a surveillance program used to spy on overseas threats. “Having now secured these commitments, I will support Tulsi’s nomination and look forward to working with her to protect our national security,” Mr. Young said Tuesday. With the positive recommendation by the committee to the Senate floor, Ms. Gabbard is on the verge of confirmation. Those Republicans on the panel who raised concerns are now backing her, and it appears there may not be the four requisite Republican “no” votes to sink her. Neither Senator McConnell nor Senator Murkowski have offered comments on Ms. Gabbard’s nomination, and the only remaining Republican to have raised concerns is Senator Curtis. “With Ms. Gabbard, I have said that it was like having a sheet of music that was missing notes. I had hoped that listening to her hearing would fill in those gaps. Frankly, there are many notes still missing and several sour notes and awkward silences that simply don’t ring true as a political philosophy on critical national security issues,” Mr. Curtis said in a statement after the confirmation hearing. “I left that hearing with more questions than answers. Some of her responses and non-responses created more confusion than clarity and only deepened my concerns about her judgment and what that would mean in this vital role.”“The President needs a team that will set him up for success, and the Senate’s role in providing advice and consent is not one I take lightly. I remain committed to carefully reviewing Ms. Gabbard’s full record,” he added.

Tulsi Gabbard One Step Closer To Confirmation With Backing of Senate Intelligence Committee

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