Tulsi is a good choice. We should all wish her well. Looking ahead, I have some interesting ideas.
Meet Your New Intelligence Chief
The Wall Street Journal reports Senate Confirms Tulsi Gabbard as Intelligence Chief
Gabbard, a combat veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 48 in the GOP-controlled Senate. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), the former GOP leader, broke with his party to side with Democrats in voting “no.”
Current Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) called Gabbard a “patriot” in remarks on the Senate floor, praising her “knowledge and leadership capabilities.” Thune also said he is glad that Gabbard has “expressed a willingness to right-size” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, to cut costs.
Trump’s pick to oversee the intelligence community had faced concerns among some GOP senators over her qualifications, her past favorable comments about foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and her refusal to firmly condemn former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked U.S. secrets.
Gabbard committed to Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) that she wouldn’t make any recommendation on Snowden’s legal standing, such as a pardon, and Sen. Todd Young (R., Ind.) received a letter from Gabbard in which she pledged to hold accountable anyone who is suspected of making an unauthorized disclosure of any intelligence program.
Some lawmakers said they were relying on Trump’s judgment. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) said he “will trust President Trump on this decision and vote for her confirmation.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said he was proud that every single Democrat opposed Gabbard’s nomination, calling her “someone who echoes Russian propaganda and falls for conspiracy theories.”
Gabbard served on a House Armed Services subcommittee on intelligence and has held security clearances in the military, but she lacks the intelligence-bureaucracy experience of many of her predecessors as head of ODNI. Her ascendance to the role of the country’s spy chief illustrates deep changes that the administration has forecast it will make to a service Trump has maligned since his first term in office.
During the confirmation process, Gabbard said she planned to cut personnel and heighten transparency in the 18 intelligence agencies that are now under her control, while also ending what she described as the agencies’ politicization.
I would have preferred that Gabbard not make commitments to Sen. Susan Collins regarding recommendations on Snowden’s legal standing, such as a pardon.
I support a pardon of Snowden.
And it appears she would have been confirmed without that commitment. But had she failed confirmation, I was hoping she would run for Senator in one of the upcoming Blue State Senate races.
In Michigan, Gary Peters, the Democrat Incumbent is not running for re-election in 2026.
In Georgia, Jon Ossoff, the Democrat Incumbent is running for re-election in 2026.
I would rather have had Tulsi taken one of those Senate seats than be the new Intelligence Chief.
But head of intelligence was the job Trump picked for her, and I can’t argue.
Looking Ahead to 2028
My preference is still possible, just not in 2026. If we wait two more years, Tulsi can do her job now, then elect to take on Arizona’s Mark Kelly or Georgia’s Raphael Warnock.
These are four very vulnerable Democrat Senate seats and I would love to see Gabbard get one of them.
2026 is out of question. But 2028?
Anyone else for Gabbard doing her job here then knocking off Kelley or Warnock in 2028?
Meanwhile, congratulations. Go Tulsi!