US Senate okays Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence

The US Senate on Wednesday (February 12) confirmed Tulsi Gabbard for the role of the US Director of National Intelligence.

She now sits at the helm of 18 US intelligence agencies and would oversee and coordinate their operations.

The Senate voted 52 to 48 to confirm Gabbard to the position, following a concerted push by allies of US President Donald Trump, including billionaire Elon Musk.

Gabbard will also act as the top adviser of President Trump on intelligence issues.

Wednesday’s vote marks another win for Trump’s efforts to get his nominees through Senate approval process.

With Gabbard’s confirmation, the US Senate Republican leader John Thune moved to schedule a procedural vote on Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has faced strong opposition to his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Notably, the role of the director of national intelligence was created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terror attack as several vulnerabilities in the intelligence apparatus came to light back then.

Tulsi Gabbard- A threat to USA’s Five Eyes alliance

Experts believe Gabbard’s rise to power might jeopardise the function of America’s Five Eyes alliance with its partner nations United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Justin Crump, a geopolitical risk expert, was quoted by the Telegraph as saying that the Five Eyes relationship will be jeopardised by an “unpredictable and adversarial” relationship with the United States under Gabbard.

“Five Eyes countries have to trust each other, which will be jeopardised by unpredictable and adversarial leadership in the largest player. Most will just dig in and get on with the urgent job, but I suspect there may be a period of a lot more uncertainty over quite how much should be shared,” said Crump.

Is Gabbard soft on American adversaries?

Gabbard has faced allegations of being soft on Russia and even of parroting Russian propaganda on Ukraine.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Gabbard wrote on X that the Biden administration and NATO were responsible for the conflict as there would have been no war if they had accepted Russia’s assertions.

“This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border (sic),” said Gabbard.

Gabbard was also seen as friendly to now-ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whom she met at the height of the Syrian Civil War.

(With inputs from agencies)