Tulsi Gabbard’s path to confirmation was strengthened on Monday when Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a crucial GOP swing vote, declared her support for Gabbard’s nomination as Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
The Senate Intelligence Committee, which will meet on Tuesday to discuss moving Gabbard’s nomination to the full Senate, is under more pressure as a result of Collins’s decision. Collins’ support eliminates a significant obstacle for President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the country’s intelligence community, as all 50 other Republicans are anticipated to support him.
“After extensive consideration of her nomination, I will support Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence,” Collins said in a statement. “As one of the principal authors of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that established this coordinating position, I understand the critical role the DNI plays in the Intelligence Community.”
“The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, however, has become far larger than it was designed to be, and Ms. Gabbard shares my vision of returning the agency to its intended size.”
Collins finished, “In response to my questions during our discussion in my office and at the open hearing, as well as through her explanation at the closed hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Ms. Gabbard addressed my concerns regarding her views on Edward Snowden. I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to strengthen our national security.”
Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins will vote YES on Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation as Director of National Intelligence pic.twitter.com/NcWBQws15v
— Martin Walsh (@martinwalsh__) February 3, 2025
The Senate Intelligence Committee is considering Gabbard’s nomination. A vote on Tuesday will decide whether her nomination moves forward to the full Senate. The committee consists of eight Democrats and nine Republicans.
Gabbard, a 2020 presidential candidate and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, has been a divisive figure in American politics. Given her track record of defying Democratic leadership on foreign policy and intelligence oversight issues, her nomination by Trump in November was somewhat unexpected.
With Collins’ support, Gabbard seems to have a clear route to confirmation, subject to the completion of the last steps in the process. Among Trump’s cabinet picks, Gabbard has been viewed as the most susceptible.
Both Republican and Democratic senators questioned Gabbard extensively during her confirmation hearing on January 30. Her opinions on whistleblower Edward Snowden and her previous contacts with foreign leaders were among the subjects covered.
“The American people elected Donald Trump not once but twice, and yet the American intelligence agencies were politicized by his opponents to undermine his presidency and falsely portray him as a puppet of Vladimir Putin,” Gabbard said before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week.
Based on a dossier financed by Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Gabbard accused intelligence agencies of abusing their power, citing the FBI’s misuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to spy on Carter Page, a Trump campaign aide.
Later, Special Counsel John Durham discovered no proof that Russian agents were involved in Trump’s campaign.
Additionally, Gabbard accused former Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken of orchestrating a 2020 letter from 51 intelligence officials denouncing Hunter Biden’s laptop as “Russian disinformation,” claiming that it was done “specifically to help Biden win the election.”
Citing James Clapper’s fabricated 2013 testimony, in which he denied warrantless surveillance of Americans, she contended that these abuses existed before Trump. She also charged former CIA Director John Brennan with lying about spying on Congress.
“Sadly, there are more examples,” she said. “The bottom line is this: This must end.”
In an interview last week with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said he was particularly worried that Gabbard wouldn’t be confirmed because of “what I hear from some of my Republican colleagues.”
“What are your colleagues on the Republican side thinking here?” Watters asked, leading Hawley to say that he hoped GOP senators listened to Gabbard’s responses.
“Here’s her real ‘sin,’ Jesse, in the eyes of so many of the Washington establishment of both parties,” the senator said. “Her ‘sin’ is that she challenges the surveillance state. She revealed the truth about the government’s spying on Americans and the abuses of FISA. She went out there and was honest about it and for that, she is getting roasted and persecuted.”
“Do your Republican colleagues understand what will happen if they vote down Tulsi?” Watters asked, suggesting that Republicans who oppose her will draw the ire of President Donald Trump.
“I don’t know,” Hawley said. “And I have to tell you, I’m worried by what I hear from some of my Republican colleagues. I’m worried that her nomination may be in jeopardy. And I’m just worried about what that will mean. It will mean that the reforms that we desperately need in the intelligence space — let’s not pretend everything is fine and dandy and hunky-dory in the intelligence community. It’s not.”