Tulsi Gabbard is One Step Closer to Confirmation as Senate Intelligence Committee Advances Vote
- Meanwhile, the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have managed to delay voting on Kash Patel to advance his nomination.
Tulsi Gabbard, one of President Trump’s most contentious cabinet choices, appears to be on a path to Senate confirmation to become the next director of national intelligence. The former Hawaii congresswoman was approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Feb. 4 with every Republican supporting her nomination and all Democrats in opposition. Republicans have a 9-8 majority in the committee.
But Kash Patel, President Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, has to wait for at least another week for his nomination to advance. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee vote have managed to delay Patel’s vote. It was initially scheduled for yesterday (Feb. 6), but was pushed to next week after Senate Democrats demanded a second hearing from Patel, citing concerns about his previous remarks and candor.
Similar to his Jan. 30 confirmation hearing, the senate Democrat criticized Patel at yesterday’s press briefing, for his previous actions and his remarks made on podcasts, social media and in his book. They said Patel “failed to assuage any of their concerns last week during his nearly six-hour confirmation hearing, including questions of whether he would take moves to ensure the bureau can continue to act without political interference,” according to FoxNews.
At his conformation hearing, Patel denied having an enemies list, distanced himself from the president on Jan. 6 clemency, but refused to admit Joe Biden won the 2020 election. He defended his position, mostly to Senate Democrats, while occasionally sparring with them. He portrayed himself as a loyal ally to law enforcement, touting his years of experience as an assistant public defender, federal prosecutor and congressional staffer. He told the committee that the FBI must return to tackling violent crime and committing to transparency for the law enforcement organization. He pledged not to abuse his power: “If confirmed as the next FBI director, I will remain focused on the FBI core mission that is to investigate fully wherever there is a constitutional factual basis to do so and to never make a prosecutorial decision,” he said.
Gabbard, on the other hand, will now head for a vote in the full U.S. Senate, which is scheduled for Feb. 13. She is likely to be confirmed with Republican-only votes. She can lose three GOP votes on the Senate floor and still be confirmed, thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Vance. If confirmed, she will become the chief of the US intelligence community, which is composed of 18 agencies, including the FBI and CIA. She would also brief and advise the president on security matters.
After facing tough questions from both Republicans and Democrats, it seemed Gabbard’s confirmation was in jeopardy. The former Hawaii congresswoman was grilled about her views on Russia, ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and Edward Snowden.
But she won over the party members on the committee who were wavering, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Todd Young of Indiana. She earned support of Sen. Ton Cotton (R-Ark.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, even before the Jan. 30 hearing. Young asked tough questions in the confirmation hearing but announced his support for. Gabbard in a social media post before the vote.
At the hearing last week, Gabbard rejected criticism that she has sided with U.S. adversaries. She chided those who questioned her loyalty to the United States given her career in the Army and in politics, calling it outrageous. She maintained she is coming under attack for questioning Washington’s national security establishment and opposing U.S. military “regime change” interventions, including the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. At the hearing Gabbard said she was not “Putin’s puppet” or “Assad’s puppet,” or anyone else’s. “The fact is what truly unsettles my political opponents is I refuse to be their puppet,” Gabbard said.
She admitted that Snowden “broke the law,” but would not say he was a traitor. She also defended her 2017 trip to Syria, saying it was an opportunity to ask Assad “tough questions” about the regime’s actions. When Sen. James Lankford (R-Oks.) asked Gabbard if Edward Snowden a traitor, she declined to answer directly, giving Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, an opening to push hard.“Is Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America?” Bennet asked in a thunderous voice. “That is not a hard question to answer.”
Gabbard served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq with a medical unit. The former House Democrat from Hawaii an for her party’s presidential nomination in 2020. She then switched parties and became a close lay of Trump. She embraced Hinduism as a teenager and made it an integral part of her identity. She he has often spoken about her faith, taken her oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita, and championed religious freedom and pluralism. She follows the Vaishnava tradition, which emphasizes devotion to Krishna, and has integrated Hindu values into her worldview, particularly in areas of public service and leadership.
She has often called out hate and racist bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism. At her confirmation hearing today, she blasted the critics and invited them to understand her spiritual path. “Unfortunately there are still some Democrat senators who still don’t understand the principle of freedom of religion and Article 6 of the Constitution,” she said. She accused the Democrats of “using the religious bigotry card but this time to foment the religious bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism.”
A Modi admirer, Gabbard had openly criticized Washington’s decision to ban Modi’s visa owing to his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots. Further, in December 2013, she had voiced her opposition to the House Resolution 417 which criticized India for failing to protect the rights and freedoms of religious minorities. In 2019, after meeting Modi in New York, she released a statement noted that the two had “a productive conversation about the importance of the U.S.-India relationship.”