Gabbard confirmed as US intel chief in latest victory for Trump

Tulsi Gabbard, a former US representative with little intelligence experience, was confirmed as the top US spy on Wednesday as Republicans lined up behind a nominee once seen as among President Donald Trump's 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 Trump's top adviser on intelligence issues.

The only Republican to vote against Gabbard was senator Mitch McConnell, the party's former leader in the chamber. No Democrats or independents voted in favour of the nominee.

The vote was another victory for Trump as he pushes to secure quick Senate approval for all his nominees for administration positions.

The Senate's Republican majority leader John Thune held a procedural vote on Robert F Kennedy Jnr, who also faced fierce opposition for 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 US adversaries and lack of experience that would have prepared her to manage a $100bn (R1.84-trillion) budget. Gabbard has not worked at a spy agency or served on an intelligence committee during her four House of Representatives terms.

She will oversee an agency created by Congress in the aftermath of the September 11 2001 attacks to co-ordinate the country's sprawling intelligence apparatus, one of the most important national security positions in US government.

“The selection of a director of national intelligence is a big deal,” said Emily Harding, director of the intelligence, national security and technology programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, noting the director's broad access to classified material and role as the president's main intelligence adviser.

Trump's announcement of Gabbard in November sent shock waves through the national security establishment, adding to concerns that intelligence-gathering would be politicised and weakened during a second Trump administration.

Sceptics questioned Gabbard's past statements seen as sympathetic towards Russia's invasion of Ukraine and defence of the government of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who she visited in Syria in 2017 while he was under US sanction.

At her hearing, Gabbard faced particularly pointed questioning from senators from both parties about her past defence of former US national security agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked thousands of highly classified documents and 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 panel's party-line 9-8 vote to recommend the nominee to the full Senate.

A former marine corps intelligence officer criticised by Musk before he endorsed Gabbard, Young said Gabbard had reassured him she would support intelligence professionals and provide unbiased information.

Gabbard's supporters also praised her pledges to pare back the director's office at a time when Trump's administration is slashing and seeking to close government agencies.

Past director 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 director under former president Joe Biden, Avril Haines, had held major national security positions, including deputy director of the CIA. She was confirmed by 84-10.

Harding said Gabbard will need to reassure allies they can trust Washington as Trump pursues an aggressive foreign policy and be cautious about making cuts amid myriad global challenges.

“The person who is going to be doing it needs to be someone he [Trump] trusts and somebody he'll 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.

Reuters