Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as intelligence chief looked to be in serious trouble Friday as Republican senators expressed concerns about her answers at a confirmation hearing.
President Trump’s controversial pick for director of national intelligence angered Republicans by refusing to condemn government leaker Edward Snowden as well as her unorthodox foreign policy views on Russia and Syria, among other concerns.
“I’m worried by what I hear from some of my Republican colleagues,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), a staunch Trump loyalist, conceded. “I’m worried that her nomination may be in jeopardy,”
Moderate Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly said much the same thing.
“Some of them are still really, really uncomfortable with her running 18 intelligence agencies,” Kelly said.
Gabbard faced sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike during a fiery Senate intelligence committee confirmation hearing Thursday that focused on her past comments supporting Russia, a meeting with Syria’s now-deposed dictator and her refusal to disavow support for Snowden.
The former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii tried to frame herself as a radical change-maker who would fulfill Trump’s promises to shake up the intelligence community after decades of what they call warmongering and foreign policy failures.
But several conservative Republicans weren’t buying it. They were dismayed by her refusal to disavow her support for Snowden and her shaky answers about sympathetic statements she’s made about Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“There are a lot of questions after (Gabbard’s appearance),” Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma told NBC News.
Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah added that “some of her responses, and non-responses, created more confusion than clarity and only deepened my concerns about her judgement.”
Like other Trump cabinet picks, Gabbard likely can afford to lose no more than three GOP senators to win confirmation to the job overseeing the work of 18 intelligence agencies.
Gabbard is a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who deployed twice to the Middle East and mounted a longshot Democratic presidential primary bid in 2020. She has no formal intelligence experience, however, and has never run a government agency or department.
She has repeatedly echoed Russian propaganda used to justify the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and in the past opposed a key U.S. surveillance program known as FISA Section 702, which she now says she supports.
In a back-and-forth Thursday that at times grew heated, lawmakers from both parties raised concerns about her statements supportive of Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who fled to Russia after he was charged with revealing classified information about surveillance programs. Snowden is now a Russian citizen.
“Yes or no, is Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America?” thundered Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado). Gabbard refused to respond.
Gabbard also took heat for her unusual 2017 visit with deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, after which she defended him against accusations that he used chemical weapons on his own people..