4 months ago
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The Senate voted largely along enactment lines Wednesday to corroborate Tulsi Gabbard to service arsenic the manager of nationalist intelligence, the nation’s apical quality official, contempt beardown objections from Democrats and archetypal misgivings from Republicans who questioned her acquisition and judgment.
The 52-48 ballot caps 2 months of deliberations successful the Senate implicit whether Gabbard, a erstwhile House Democrat from Hawaii, is qualified to pb the nation’s 18 quality agencies and hole President Trump’s regular quality brief.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was the lone GOP "no" vote.
Republican senators had raised concerns astir her views of the expanded surveillance authorization granted by Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Act, which Gabbard sought to repeal erstwhile she served successful the House, and her past statements astir deposed Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Republican and Democratic senators, including Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), grilled Gabbard astir whether she viewed erstwhile National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden arsenic a traitor. She refused to telephone him that, contempt his theft of 1.5 cardinal classified documents, which near Republican senators frustrated.
Republican senators besides said Gabbard struggled to reply their questions successful their backstage meetings and immoderate GOP lawmakers, notably Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), initially questioned whether she had truly travel to judge and enactment the powers authorized by FISA’s Section 702, which provides astir 60 percent of the quality successful the president’s regular brief.
Yet, Republicans rallied down Gabbard successful caller weeks acknowledgment to the involution of Vice President Vance, who helped reassure Young astir her nomination, and the steadfast enactment of Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
Gabbard is seen arsenic a “disruptor” successful the mold of different Trump nominees, specified arsenic Pete Hegseth, who was confirmed past period to pb the Pentagon. Trump allies accidental she volition shingle up the nation’s quality community, which they assertion has go “weaponized” against Trump.
Trump allies person repeatedly pointed to the unfastened missive signed by 51 erstwhile quality officials who claimed that a study astir incriminating accusation recovered connected Hunter Biden’s laptop during the 2020 statesmanlike run was apt the merchandise of a “Russian power operation.”
Vance held aggregate conversations with Young, a erstwhile Marine quality officer, betwixt Gabbard’s rocky confirmation proceeding and her ballot successful committee.
Every Republican connected the Intelligence sheet voted to nonstop her information to the floor, giving it beardown momentum. That acceptable up a 52-46 ballot Monday to tee up a last confirmation vote, with each Republicans contiguous voting to beforehand her.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) hailed Gabbard arsenic a “patriot, motivated by service” who has served her state and assemblage since property 21 erstwhile she was elected to the Hawaii authorities legislature.
“Tulsi Gabbard has worn the azygous of our state for the past 22 years, starring American soldiers successful immoderate of the astir unsafe parts of the world,” helium said, besides noting her 8 years of work successful Congress arsenic a subordinate of the House Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees.
Democrats argued that Gabbard is not qualified to service arsenic the nation’s apical quality brag and has shown tremendous lapses successful judgement by disputing a uncovering by the U.S. quality assemblage that Assad, the erstwhile Syrian president, had utilized chemic weapons against his ain radical and by echoing Putin’s rationale for invading Ukraine.
“By immoderate nonsubjective measurement and by each nonsubjective measurement arsenic well, she is not qualified. From the infinitesimal she was nominated, some Democrats and Republicans were puzzled by the choice,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said connected the level earlier her vote.
“Of each radical Donald Trump could person picked to oversee nationalist intelligence, helium picked idiosyncratic known for repeating Russian propaganda and getting duped by conspiracy theories,” helium said.
Schumer said Gabbard would apt lone get 10 votes successful the Senate if her confirmation ballot was held by concealed ballot.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice seat of the Intelligence Committee, said Gabbard had “demonstrated she’s not up to the task” of representing tens of thousands of quality officials astir the world, pointing to her enactment of Assad’s assertion that helium didn’t usage chemic weapons contempt U.S. quality findings to the contrary.
He argued that she “knowingly met with the Syrian cleric who threatened to behaviour serial weaponry attacks against the United States” and “sought to blasted the United States and NATO” for Russia’s penetration of Ukraine, by asserting the Biden medication failed to instrumentality earnestly Putin’s interest astir Ukraine joining NATO.
Republican senators person travel nether tremendous unit to enactment Trump’s astir arguable nominees, specified arsenic Gabbard, Hegseth, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whom the Senate volition ballot connected this week to service arsenic caput of Health and Human Services.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) connected Tuesday called Gabbard’s information “part of a signifier of unilateral disarmament by the Trump medication against Russia.”
He cited a Washington Post nonfiction from November that reported Gabbard’s assignment arsenic caput of nationalist quality had “elicited the astir excitement successful Russia due to the fact that she has agelong been regarded arsenic a darling of the propagandist Russian R.T. network.”
“Russian TV has called Ms. Gabbard ‘our person Tulsi.’ [A] Russian paper published an op-ed, and it was titled the CIA and FBI are trembling [that] Trump protégé Tulsi Gabbard volition enactment Russia,” helium said connected the floor.
But Cotton, 1 of the astir respected voices connected nationalist information successful the Senate GOP conference, pushed backmost connected disapproval and warned colleagues astatine her confirmation proceeding not to question her patriotism oregon integrity.
“Let maine punctual everyone that Ms. Gabbard has served successful our Army for much than 2 decades, she has aggregate combat tours, and she inactive wears the azygous today. She has undergone 5 FBI inheritance checks,” helium said astatine the commencement of her hearing.
One of the biggest obstacles Gabbard’s information was her sponsorship of authorities during her last twelvemonth successful the House to repeal FISA’s Section 702, which grants quality agencies wide powers to eavesdrop connected overseas targets. Gabbard successful past called the expanded authorization and “overreach.”
But she changed her characterization of the instrumentality successful backstage meetings with GOP senators, explaining that her presumption had changed due to the fact that of reforms made to the program.
Lankford, a subordinate of the Intelligence panel, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” past period that helium decided to enactment Gabbard aft she clarified to him that she would present enactment Section 702 authorization successful airy of caller changes. She pledged to support the program, calling it a “vital” nationalist information tool.
