Will Republican reservations sink Tulsi Gabbard?
Will Republican reservations sink Tulsi Gabbard?
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Not all Republicans are on board with the former Democratic congresswoman as she prepares for her confirmation hearing, Eric Garcia reports. The Senate voted to confirm Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, on a bipartisan basis with a tally of 68-29.
![[Sen. Susan Collins has said she still has concerns about Gabbard’s views on foreign surveillance.]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/09/16/16/Maine_Shooting_69981.jpg)
This came after the whirlwind confirmation process for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had kept his vote quiet, announced his support for Hegseth right before he walked onto the Senate floor, while Sen. Mitch McConnell shocked many when he joined Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine in opposition. Vice President JD Vance then had to head to the Capitol to cast his first tie-breaking vote in a dramatic fashion.
But as Inside Washington wrote last week, Hegseth was a cakewalk compared to the next round of confirmation votes. Perhaps the most tenuous confirmation will be for Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick to be director of National Intelligence. Unlike Hegseth, a former Fox News host and outspoken supporter of not only Trump but also the various culture wars that the right has hammered for years, Gabbard’s specific policies might cause significant heartburn for old-school Republican hawks like McConnell, Collins, Murkowski and others.
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who quit the party and endorsed Trump, has a number of hurdles to clear. For one, she will almost surely be asked about whey she visited now-deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and about her parroting Russian talking points.
