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The success of one of President Trump’s more divisive cabinet candidates shows his domination over the Republican Senate.
- Feb. 12, 2025Updated 12:29 p.m. ET
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of national intelligence in a 52 to 48 vote that demonstrated President Trump’s political control over Republican lawmakers.
Ms. Gabbard had one of the most contentious confirmation hearings of all of the president’s nominees. A number of Republican senators joined Democrats in asking tough questions about her previous support of Edward Snowden, a former government contractor who released reams of classified data, and her skepticism about warrantless wiretaps of overseas communications.
Her defense of Bashar al-Assad, the former Syrian dictator, and her sympathy toward President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia also gave some Republican lawmakers pause.
But in the end only one Republican was willing to oppose her. Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the former majority leader, voted against her.
Mr. McConnell said he voted against her because the director of national intelligence should not be someone “with a history of alarming lapses in judgment.”
“Entrusting the coordination of the intelligence community to someone who struggles to acknowledge these facts is an unnecessary risk,” he said in a statement.
