Senate committee backs Trump pick Tulsi Gabbard as US intelligence chief
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Ms Tulsi Gabbard testifying before a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Jan 30.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump’s contentious nomination of Ms Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence cleared a major hurdle on Feb 3 when a Senate committee backed her for confirmation despite doubts about her lack of experience and past statements seen as supporting US adversaries.
Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters that the panel had voted to report Ms Gabbard’s nomination favourably to the full Senate.
The vote was a narrow 9-8, several committee members said. Two sources familiar with the result said it had been along party lines, as every Republican on the committee backed Ms Gabbard and every Democrat voted against her.
No date has been announced for Ms Gabbard’s consideration by the full 100-member Senate, where she cannot afford to lose the support of more than three of Mr Trump’s fellow Republicans and still be confirmed, given unified Democratic opposition.
Ms Gabbard’s confirmation would continue a trend of unanimous or near-unanimous Republican support for Mr Trump’s nominees in the Senate, underscoring his influence on his party as he begins his second term.
A handful of Republicans on the intelligence panel had not said whether they would support Ms Gabbard but two – Senators Susan Collins and Todd Young – announced this week that they would vote for Ms Gabbard.
Democrats, and some Republicans, had expressed doubts about the choice of Ms Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democrat without significant intelligence experience, for the position overseeing all 18 US intelligence agencies. During her confirmation hearing, Ms Gabbard faced sharp questioning from senators from both parties about her past defence of former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden and comments seen as supportive of Russia.
While in the House of Representatives, Ms Gabbard introduced legislation that would have dropped criminal charges against Snowden, who leaked thousands of highly classified NSA documents, fled to China and then sought asylum in Russia.
Mr Young posted a letter from Ms Gabbard on social media in which the nominee pledged, among other things, to hold accountable any intelligence community employee, contractor or subcontractor who is suspected of making an unauthorised disclosure of intelligence programmes. REUTERS
