In a 52-48 vote, former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence.
Despite Democratic lawmakers who opposed her confirmation because of her views on Russia and former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked classified information, Gabbard will be in charge of 18 agencies of U.S. intelligence and serve as Trump’s top advisor on matters of intelligence.
Gabbard’s confirmation hearing on Jan. 30 was nothing short of tense and full of conflict, including when Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado yelled at the 43-year-old and asked Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton if a more qualified candidate were available.
USA Today reported that nearly 100 former intelligence and national security officials, such as CIA agents and deputy secretaries of state, signed a letter that encouraged senators to examine Gabbard’s records behind closed doors.
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the committee, spoke again on Monday in disapproval of Gabbard’s nomination.
“We need leaders in the Intelligence Community and throughout government who are prepared to stand up to short-sighted attempts to attack our workforce at the expense of our national security. Unfortunately, I do not believe Ms. Gabbard is such a leader. Nor is she well-suited, by dint of experience or judgment, to serve as Director of National Intelligence,” Warner said.
Warner sounded the alarm for weeks about Gabbard’s lack of qualifications for the position.
While he respects her years of service in the U.S. Army, Warner said he questions her judgment.
He explained the importance of her role as DNI involves all matters related to national security and she will be responsible for a budget of more than $100 billion between the National Intelligence Program and the Military Intelligence Program.
According to Warner, Trump has issued several directives in the past couple weeks “that could irreparably harm our intelligence efforts and our nation’s ability to defend itself against the many threats we face.” Some of the FBI’s most experienced agents were fired. Thousands more are in danger who were involved in the investigations of the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Members of the intelligence community are being pressured to resign or retire.
“And reportedly, senior law enforcement and national security officials are being asked to take political litmus tests, such as whether the 2020 Presidential Election was “stolen,” and whether the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was an ‘inside job.'”
Entire agencies are being eliminated in defiance of the U.S. Constitution and unqualified DOGE staff are illegally accessing classified and sensitive information.
“To take just one recent example of what is at stake here: last week, the CIA apparently sent an email – using an unclassified system – to the White House listing the names of all recently hired employees… evidently in an attempt to comply with an executive order to reduce the size of the workforce… no matter how badly their skills might be needed. I shouldn’t need to explain to any member of this body the counterintelligence risks associated with exposing these officers’ identities to our adversaries,” Warner said Monday.
America needs leaders in the Intelligence Community and the federal government who will stand up to attacks on workforce that threaten national security. And, Warner said he does not believe Gabbard is such a leader.
“The DNI is a position of great importance and significance to our national security… created after one of the worst security failures in our nation’s history… 9/11,” Warner said. When Congress established the position it mandated by law that the individual chosen must have “extensive national security expertise.”
The individual must be trustworthy to share sensitive information with allies and protect the secrets of allies.
“Yet repeatedly, Ms. Gabbard has excused our adversaries’ worst actions… and instead blamed the United States and our allies for them.”
Gabbard has celebrated Snowden as a “brave whistleblower” and advocated that he be pardoned. However, Cotton called Snowden a “traitor” and said he should “rot in jail for the rest of his life,” and Gabbard never expressed agreement.
“Instead, she said, and I quote, ‘The DNI… has no role in determining whether or not Edward Snowden is a lawful whistleblower.'”
The main responsibility of the DNI is to “protect intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure.”
Warner also mentioned Gabbard’s vote against reauthorization of Section 702 and introduction of legislation to repeal the legislation. Her change of heart on 702 after her nomination is not credible as far as Warner is concerned.
“The DNI is responsible for making annual certifications under Section 702, without which all collection under the law will cease… And the law itself is up for reauthorization in just over a year, a process typically led by the DNI. I have no confidence in Ms. Gabbard’s commitment to either task.”
Warner said that today’s world “is more complex and more dangerous than ever before… and we need serious people with the experience, expertise and judgment to navigate that complexity.”
Gabbard is not that nominee.
“A vote in favor of her confirmation is an endorsement of President Trump’s lawless efforts to hollow out our national security workforce, and her confirmation will further strain the alliances that have kept our country safe for decades.”
Gabbard was sworn in at the White House Wednesday afternoon.
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Rebecca Barnabi
