Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to oversee US spy agencies, advances to Senate confirmation vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tulsi Gabbard moved a step closer to being the next director of national intelligence Monday after the U.S. Senate advanced her nomination to a final vote planned for later this week.

The Senate could hold its final vote on confirming Gabbard as soon as Wednesday following Monday's 52-46 procedural vote to end debate on her nomination, which fell along party lines.

Created following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence oversees and coordinates the work of 18 intelligence agencies.

A former Democratic congresswoman, Gabbard is one of President Donald Trump’s most contentious nominees, given her past comments sympathetic to Edward Snowden and Russia and a meeting with Syria’s now-deposed leader.

With strong Democratic opposition and only a thin Republican majority, almost all GOP senators will need to vote yes for her to win confirmation. Gabbard's chances greatly improved last week after some Republican lawmakers who had expressed concerns about her affirmed their support in the face of a pressure campaign mounted by Trump allies including Elon Musk.

Gabbard is a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who deployed twice to the Middle East and ran for president in 2020.

Her past praise of Snowden drew particularly harsh questions during her Senate nomination hearing. The former National Security Agency contractor fled to Russia after he was charged with revealing classified information about surveillance programs.

Gabbard said that while Snowden broke laws about the protection of classified secrets, he revealed important facts about surveillance programs she believes are unconstitutional.

A 2017 visit with Syrian President Bashar Assad was another flash point. Assad was recently deposed following a brutal civil war in which he was accused of using chemical weapons. Following her visit, Gabbard faced criticism that she was legitimizing a dictator and then more questions when she said she was skeptical that Assad had used chemical weapons.

Gabbard defended meeting with Assad, saying she used the opportunity to press the Syrian leader on his human rights record.

She has also repeatedly echoed Russian propaganda used to justify the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, and in the past opposed a key U.S. surveillance tool, though she now says she supports the program.