Is Tulsi Gabbard’s Nomination Moving Forward?

Tulsi Gabriel, the nominee of President Donald Trump to be director of national Intelligence, received support from two Senate Republicans of importance on Tuesday.

Todd Young, Indiana Republican Senator, and Jerry Moran of Kansas, Republican Senator, both members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence announced that they would support Gabbard’s nomination. This gives Trump’s nominee the necessary backing to go before the entire chamber.

Young, with a letter by Gabbard, posted a message on X Tuesday morning.

“I have done what the Framers envisioned for senators to do: use the consultative process to seek firm commitments, in this case, commitments that will advance our national security, which is my top priority as a former Marine Corps intelligence officer.

After securing these commitments, Tulsi will be nominated and I look forward to working together with her to safeguard our national security.

Less than an hour later, HuffPost’s Igor Bobic posted: “New: GOP Sen. Jerry Moran will also support Tulsi Gabbard today. Sen. Moran plans to vote yes on Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination,’ his spox tells me.”

Young and Moran have joined Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who announced Monday that she will support Gabbard.

Collins, one of few Republicans to have voted against Trump’s initiatives and a moderate, made a statement in support of Gabbard said, “I look forward working with Ms. Gabbard.”

Assuming that all Democrats voted against Gabbard, the Senate Intelligence Committee is split 9-8. Gabbard can only afford to lose a single Republican vote. Now it appears that all GOP members are going to vote in favor of Gabbard’s nomination.

The panel is expected to vote on the nomination behind closed doors later Tuesday.

During the hearing, Gabbard was closely questioned by senators of both parties regarding her previous defense of Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, and her comments that were perceived as being supportive of Russia.

Gabbard, while in the House of Representatives introduced legislation that would have dropped all charges against Snowden. Snowden is a former contractor of the National Security Agency who leaked thousands of documents before seeking asylum in Russia.

Gabbard refused to answer repeatedly when asked whether she considered Snowden as a traitor. She said, “I’m focused on the future. I want to prevent this from happening again.” in response to Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma).