Washington-the Senate controlled by the Republican Party morning voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as director of National Intelligence of President Donald Trump, putting the former congressman in charge of the extensive American intelligence community.
Voting 52-48 was largely in the lines of the party, and almost all Republicans present votes in favor of Gabbard. Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., The former Republican of a lifetime who faced Trump, was the only Republican who joined all Democrats to vote against him.
Gabbard’s confirmation is a victory for Trump and represents another example of his dominance over the Republican party, where few have shown the will to get out of the line.
After Trump announced to Gabbard as his DNI selection in November, the Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, expressed serious concerns about their secret meeting of 2017 with the then President Bashar Assad of Syria; his comprehensive comments about Russia; His past efforts to repeal a powerful government surveillance tool, known as section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Law; and his previous support for Edward Snowden, a former government contractor who leaked information classified to the press about those espionage programs.
Before his nomination, Gabbard had argued that Snowden should be forgiven. But appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee at a confirmation hearing last month, Gabbard reversed the course, saying that he would not press so that Snowden was forgiven or receiving clemency, even when he refused to call the former contractor of the security agency National “traitor” when it was pressed when by Republican senators.
In addition, Gabbard backed his strong criticisms of section 702 during the audience, qualifying it as a “crucial” tool after Congress approved new protections last year.
In the end, McConnell was the only Republican in Buck Trump and not voting not about Gabbard. The moderate senator Susan Collins, R-MAINE, a member of the Intelligence Committee and a key vote of the Republican Party, was one of the Republicans who had expressed concerns about Gabbard, but gave him his support only a few days after his confirmation hearing. Collins helped write the 2004 legislation that established the DNI position.
“The Office of the National Intelligence Director … has become much larger than it was designed, and Mrs. Gabbard shares my vision of returning the agency to its planned size,” Collins said in a statement this month. “In response to my questions during our discussion in my office and in the open audience, as well as through its explanation at the audience closed before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mrs. Gabbard addressed my concerns regarding her points of View about Edward Snowden. “
The Democrats criticized Gabbard very well, which suggests that Republicans were more concerned with not angry Trump than national security.
“Instead of speaking and truth, Mrs. Gabbard repeatedly speaks the language of falsehoods and conspiracy theories,” said the leader of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, Dn.Y. “The National Intelligence Director must be strong against the adversaries of the United States. But Mrs. Gabbard has spent her entire career sympathizing with people like Vladimir Putin and Bashar al Assad. ”
The National Intelligence Director supervises the 18 agencies that make up the United States intelligence community, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. The DNI also advises the president about intelligence matters.
Gabbard, 43, a veteran of the Iraq War, has served for more than two decades in the Army Reserve. She had been a Hawaii Democrat for a long time, serving in the State Chamber and in the Honolulu City Council. She represented Hawaii in the representatives from 2013 to 2021. After she run out of success for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, Gabbard supported Joe Biden on Trump.
But Biden was attributed and left the Democratic Party in 2022. Last October, Gabbard announced that he joined the Republican Party and supported Trump, appearing with him in the campaign in the period prior to the 2024 elections.
Senate to vote to advance in the offer of the Secretary of Health of RFK Jr.
The Senate also planned to celebrate a key procedure vote on Wednesday on the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s unorthodox election for the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If Kennedy can win a simple majority, it could be confirmed before Thursday morning.
Some Republicans have expressed skepticism about Kennedy, given their past opposition to vaccines and abortion support. But during an unstable performance at his confirmation audience last month, Kennedy said he now believes that “vaccines have a fundamental role in medical care.” When asked about his position on abortion, he replied: “I agree with President Trump in which each abortion is a tragedy,” and added that abortion laws should be left to the United States.
Last week, Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La-La., Doctor and President of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which was seen a crucial vote, announced his support for RFK Jr. after saying that He extracted half a dozen key concessions from the nominee.
In the words of Cassidy, RFK and the Trump administration promised to “protect the public health benefit from vaccination.” RFK also promised to have a “close collaborative working relationship” with Cassidy, said the senator, where they will speak several times a month. RFK will also appear before the aid committee quarterly if necessary, said Cassidy.
