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Tulsi Gabbard confirmed as Trumps intelligence chief
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Tulsi Gabbard, a former U.S. representative with little intelligence experience, was confirmed as the top U.S. spy on Wednesday, as Republicans lined up behind a nominee once seen as among President Donald Trumps most controversial picks.The Senate voted 52 to 48, mostly along party lines, to confirm Gabbard to the position overseeing the 18-agency intelligence community and acting as Trumps top adviser on intelligence issues.The only Republican to vote against Gabbard was Senator Mitch McConnell, the partys former leader in the chamber. No Democrats or independents voted in favor of the nominee.The vote was another victory for Trump as he pushes to secure quick Senate approval for all of his nominees for administration positions.The Senates Republican majority leader, John Thune, held a procedural vote on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also faced fierce opposition to his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services, immediately after the Gabbard confirmation vote.Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democrat, had faced bipartisan questions about past statements seen as supporting U.S. adversaries, and lack of experience that would have prepared her to manage a $100 billion budget. Gabbard neither worked at a spy agency nor served on an intelligence committee during her four House of Representatives terms.She will now oversee an agency created by Congress in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the countrys sprawling intelligence apparatus, one of the most important national security positions in U.S. government.The selection of a DNI is a very big deal, said Emily Harding, director of the Intelligence, National Security and Technology Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noting the DNIs broad access to classified material and role as the presidents main intelligence adviser.Russia, Syria, SnowdenTrumps announcement of Gabbard in November sent shockwaves through the national security establishment, adding to concerns that intelligence-gathering would be politicized, and weakened, during a second Trump administration.Skeptics questioned Gabbards past statements seen as sympathetic toward Russias invasion of Ukraine and defense of the government of former Syria leader Bashar al-Assad, whom she visited in Syria in 2017 while he was under U.S. sanction.At her hearing, Gabbard faced particularly pointed questioning from senators from both parties about her past defense of former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked thousands of highly classified documents and then sought asylum in Russia.Some were noticeably frustrated at her refusal to call Snowden a traitor.Republicans who expressed concerns faced an intense political pressure campaign, from Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who threatened to support primary opponents of any Republican who obstructed nominees.Senator Todd Young, an intelligence committee member who did not immediately back Gabbard, issued a statement supporting her before the panels party-line 9-8 vote to recommend the nominee to the full Senate.A former Marine Corps intelligence officer criticized by Musk before he endorsed Gabbard, Young said Gabbard had reassured him that she would support intelligence professionals and provide unbiased information.Gabbards supporters also praised her pledges to pare back the DNIs office, at a time when Trumps administration is slashing and even seeking to close government agencies.Past DNI nominees have been intelligence veterans confirmed with broad bipartisan support. Daniel Coats, a former ambassador and Republican senator who served on the intelligence committee, was confirmed by 85-12 in 2017, as Trump began his first term.The DNI under former President Joe Biden, Avril Haines, had held a series of major national security positions, including deputy director of the CIA. She was confirmed by 84-10.Harding said Gabbard will need to reassure allies that they can trust Washington as Trump pursues an aggressive foreign policy, and be cautious about making cuts amid myriad global challenges.The person that is going to be doing it needs to be someone that he (Trump) trusts and somebody that hell listen to, Harding said.Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent. She backed Trump and joined the Republican Party in 2024.Patricia Zengerle, Reuters
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