WASHINGTON: The Republican-controlled US Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday as Donald Trump’s choice to lead the country’s intelligence services, despite criticism over her lack of experience and past support for Russia and Syria.

Gabbard — appointed to be director of national intelligence — has faced questions over her 2017 meeting with now-deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and her peddling of Kremlin propaganda, particularly false conspiracy theories about the Ukraine war.

She is also regarded with suspicion over her views on US government surveillance and her backing for National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden, seen on both sides of Congress as having imperilled Americans’ safety.

Gabbard scraped through a 52-48 floor vote — with former Senate leader Mitch McConnell as the sole Republican “no” — as Democrats warned that she had no business being anywhere near the country’s most sensitive classified secrets.

“On the night that Russia invaded Ukraine and launched the first full-scale invasion of a sovereign nation in Europe since World War II, what was Ms Gabbard doing?” Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said ahead of the vote.

“She was spending her energy blaming Nato and the US for what Putin did…That alone should be disqualifying for anyone seeking to become the top intelligence adviser to the president.”

Schumer said Gabbard, 43, had blown her chance to reassure senators over her judgment at her confirmation hearing and accused Republicans of ignoring her “troubling history of pushing conspiracies and spreading propaganda.”

Gabbard’s success was seen as another powerful demonstration of Trump’s iron grip on his party, after he pushed through a slate of some of the most contentious cabinet nominees in modern history.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2025