The Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence in a 52-to-48 vote on Wednesday.
Gabbard, who served four terms in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021 as a Democrat but subsequently became an independent and then a Republican, was approved on a near-party-line vote. All 45 Democrats and the two nominal independents who caucus with them were joined by Sen Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in voting against her nomination.
As director of national intelligence, Gabbard will oversee 17 agencies in the intelligence community, including the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency.
Gabbard had faced tough confirmation hearing questioning from some Democratic senators. They alleged that Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard who had passed several FBI background checks, was unduly sympathetic to foreign…
