Senate Confirms Tulsi Gabbard As Director Of National Intelligence

On Wednesday, the GOP-led Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard to become the director of national intelligence in President Donald Trump‘s second-term administration.

Although Democrats and the independents who caucus with them became unified in opposing Gabbard, the Cabinet pick who will now oversee the U.S. intelligence community managed to woo a handful of Republican holdouts concerned over some of her stances on key national security issues.

The final vote, which had been pushed back from the overnight hours while a storm blanketed Washington, D.C., with snow, was 52-48, mostly along party lines. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was the only GOP lawmaker to vote against Gabbard’s confirmation.

Gabbard is a combat veteran, former House lawmaker from Hawaii, ex-vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, and 2020 presidential candidate. She broke with the Democratic Party in 2022. Trump nominated Gabbard for the spy chief role in November after she endorsed his 2024 campaign and served on his transition team.

“I am pleased to announce that former Congresswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Tulsi Gabbard, will serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans,” Trump said in a statement.

“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican!” Trump added. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”

During her confirmation hearing last month, Gabbard testified about ending the politicization of intelligence and restoring trust in the national security apparatus tasked with protecting American citizens. Gabbard also called out what she said were attempts by critics to cast herself and Trump as a “puppet” to others, claiming that what “truly unsettles” them is that “I refuse to be their puppet.”

While seeking to win over support from senators, Gabbard sought to assuage the reservations that some Republicans had about her views on leaders of foreign adversaries, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, and stance on Edward Snowden, a former U.S. intelligence contractor who leaked thousands of secret documents on domestic surveillance programs and global security operations.

Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted 9-8 along party lines to advance Gabbard’s nomination after she won over Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Todd Young (R-IN). Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced on Monday, when the Senate broke the filibuster on Gabbard’s nomination, that they would also vote in favor of confirmation.

“I will vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence,” Murkowski said in a post to X. “While I continue to have concerns about certain positions she has previously taken, I appreciate her commitment to rein in the outsized scope of the agency, while still enabling the ODNI to continue its essential function in upholding national security. As she brings independent thinking and necessary oversight to her new role, I am counting on her to ensure the safety and civil liberties of American citizens remain rigorously protected.”

Securing the support of holdout GOP senators was critical as they hold a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber and the Democrats and their independent allies banded together against Gabbard.

“Tulsi Gabbard speaks the language of falsehoods and conspiracy theories,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a post to X on Tuesday. “She has spent her entire career sympathizing with the likes of Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad. She is not qualified to lead America’s intelligence agencies.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who had shown openness to some of Trump’s nominees in the past, announced last week that he would not vote for Gabbard or Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president’s choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department.

“I have met with most of the cabinet nominees and have carefully watched their confirmation hearings,” Fetterman said in a post to X. “After considering what’s at stake, I have voted against moving forward to the confirmation of Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Kennedy, and will be voting NO on their confirmations.”

A little more than a dozen of Trump’s Cabinet nominees have been confirmed so far in a process that has been stretched out as Democrats employ delay tactics. On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on Kash Patel’s bid to lead the FBI by a week after Democrats requested a hold. This also happened with Pam Bondi, who has since been confirmed as U.S. Attorney General. Next up, the full Senate is poised to vote on confirming Kennedy’s nomination this week.