Senate confirms Gabbard as Trump’s director of national intelligence after Republicans fall in line – The Associated Press
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Tulsi Gabbard was sworn in as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence on Wednesday shortly after she was confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans who had initially questioned her experience and judgment fell in line behind her nomination.
A former Democratic congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard was one of President Donald Trump’s most contentious nominees, and will now oversee 18 intelligence agencies.
Attorney General Pam Bondi swears in Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington, as her husband Abraham Williams watches. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
Attorney General Pam Bondi swears in Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington, as her husband Abraham Williams watches. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump congratulates Tulsi Gabbard after she was sworn in as the Director of National Intelligence in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
Tulsi Gabbard stands with her husband Abraham Williams before she is sworn in as the Director of National Intelligence in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tulsi Gabbard was sworn in as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence on Wednesday shortly after she was confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans who had initially questioned her experience and judgment fell in line behind her nomination.
Gabbard is an unconventional pick to oversee and coordinate the country’s 18 intelligence agencies, given her past comments sympathetic to Russia, a meeting she held with now-deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad and her previous support for government leaker Edward Snowden.
A military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, Gabbard was confirmed on Wednesday by a 52-48 vote, with the Senate’s slim Republican majority beating back Democratic opposition. The only “no’ vote from a Republican came from Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
She is the latest high-ranking nominee to win Senate confirmation as the new administration works to reshape vast portions of the federal government, including the intelligence apparatus.
The Senate has confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as the nation’s intelligence chief. The AP’s Sagar Meghani reports.
Staffers at the CIA and other intelligence agencies have received buyout offers, while lawmakers and security experts have raised concerns about Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency accessing databases containing information about intelligence operations.
Speaking after she was sworn in at the White House, Gabbard promised to work to “refocus” the intelligence community in line with Trump’s vision.
“Unfortunately, the American people have very little trust in the intelligence community, largely because they’ve seen the weaponization and politicization of an entity that is supposed to be purely focused on ensuring our national security,” Gabbard said.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created to address intelligence failures exposed by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Republicans have increasingly criticized the office, saying it has grown too large and politicized. Trump himself has long viewed the nation’s intelligence services with suspicion.
GOP senators who had expressed concerns about Gabbard’s stance on Snowden, Syria and Russia said they were won over by her promise to refocus on the office’s core missions: coordinating federal intelligence work and serving as the president’s chief intelligence adviser.
“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,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, adding that Gabbard will bring “independent thinking” to the job.
McConnell, the former GOP leader, said in a statement after the vote that in his assessment, Gabbard brings “unnecessary risk” to the position.
“The nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the President receives are tainted by a Director of National Intelligence with a history of alarming lapses in judgment,” McConnell said.
At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I think we’re greatly disappointed in any Republican who chooses willfully to vote against the president’s exceptionally qualified nominees.”
McConnell also voted against confirming Pete Hegseth for defense secretary.
Democrats noted that Gabbard had no experience working for an intelligence agency and they said her past stances on Russia, Syria and Snowden were disqualifying. They also questioned whether she would stand up to Trump if necessary and could maintain vital intelligence sharing with American allies.
“We simply cannot in good consci
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