Democrats want to slow Gabbard confirmation path

Senate Democrats want to slow the roll on Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. intelligence community.

Democrats are insisting on delaying Gabbard’s confirmation hearing for director of national intelligence, saying they still don’t have the full slate of background checks, ethics disclosures and paperwork on a candidate whose overall qualifications have sparked their concern.

“We’re going to insist on these documents before we go forward. I mean, that’s just kind of a nonnegotiable. You can’t do ‘advice and consent’ without it,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said.

“Particularly in the national security context, it’s critical that you have these documents. Maybe it’s not flashy and it’s not viral, but it happens to be how I feel.”

The pushback appears to have successfully delayed a hearing that would normally take place ahead of Trump being sworn into office Jan. 20.

Under President Biden, current Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines was the first of the president’s Cabinet officials confirmed in the Senate; the upper chamber supported her with a bipartisan 84-10 vote on Biden’s Inauguration Day.

Trump and his team are pushing for his national security team to be confirmed and in place on Jan. 20, but Gabbard has baggage that makes that unlikely.

Lawmakers have pointed to her lack of experience in the intelligence field, and perhaps more significantly, have pointed to her relationships with U.S. adversaries.

She met in 2017 with Syria leader Bashar Assad, who was recently overthrown. The meeting came after allegations Assad used chemical weapons against his own people. She has also been a high-profile defender of national security leaker Edward Snowden and has echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric about the Ukraine war.

Some senators are also concerned over her past votes against reauthorizing FISA Section 702, which gives the U.S. the authority to conduct warrantless surveillance of non-U.S. citizens located abroad. In an about face, she told Punchbowl News on Friday that she now supports Section 702, calling it a “crucial” program.

A series of meetings last week yielded mixed results for Gabbard.

“I had questions going in. I have questions coming out,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.

“This is an extraordinarily important job,” he continued. “A lot of this [is] also about protecting the independence of the intelligence community and making sure we continue to have the ability to share classified information with our allies.”

But Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), another Intelligence Committee member, spoke positively about how Gabbard would fare at a public hearing, even as he said “there’s a lot of technical questions that folks can ask, and it can show whether or not she has the background or not.”

“I think she’s a very quick study. I think she’s very bright, and I think the challenge for her will be in … an open discussion, will be showing the expertise that she needs. And I think she’s well on her way, so I’m optimistic that she’ll be successful,” he told The Hill.

Rounds described Warner as a key vote on a panel that still places high importance on bipartisanship.

Even if Warner does not support Gabbard, Rounds predicted she would be confirmed. He said he thought “the open hearings are as much for President Trump to be able to look and to see and to show confidence as it is for the individual members to make up their own minds.”

That’s an improvement from last month, when nearly a half dozen sources, including senators and individuals close to the situation, indicated to The Hill that Gabbard was having trouble during meetings with lawmakers, with one source familiar describing the sit-downs as “not going well.”

Still, some concerns appeared to be lingering after her meeting with Republican senators last week.

“I think there’s a fair amount of skepticism but I think she can overcome it. I think her one-on-one meetings are really critical,” a source close to the Trump team said. “There’s lots of people who think that her views, or at least as reported, are a little bit concerning, out of the mainstream. And there’s a lot of questions about whether or not she’s the right person for that job.”

Defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth’s nomination has turned a corner, but that might not be good news for Gabbard.

“The question is, do they have more gas in the tank to drive her across the finish line? And that’s the issue to be determined,” the source close to the Trump team said.

Some Democrats who met with Gabbard last week didn’t air much criticism.

“Tulsi and I had a good discussion about a number of topics that I’m interested in,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), but he described information on her as being “slow to come in.”

“I have more material on Hegseth than I do on Tulsi Gabbard.”

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, likewise expressed concern about moving ahead without the full slate of documents.

“We need the information before the hearings are scheduled,” he said.

But he went ahead and met with her to prepare for any hearing, though he didn’t offer many details.

“It was fine. It’s a good meeting. … She answered my questions,” he said.

Other Democrats have been more vocal about their reservations, airing issues that have been privately expressed by some Republicans

“I’m reserving final judgment on Gabbard, but the two predominant concerns I have about her is, first, her complete lack of experience — never even served on the Intel Committee, had an intel role in the military that I’m aware of,” said Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who previously served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

“The second: She’s shown very erratic and poor judgment on things like Bashar al-Assad and echoing Kremlin talking points, and I have great concerns about someone who is whispering [in] the president’s ear during national security crises having no experience and poor judgment.”

Some Trump picks are expected to move forward with confirmation hearings next week, such as Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent and attorney general nominee Pam Bondi. And several Democrats have come out of the woodwork to support some Trump picks, particularly Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for secretary of State.

Others face challenges.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to be Health and Human Services secretary, was in meetings on Capitol Hill last week, too. After Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chair, sat down with Kennedy, the senator opted to not immediately endorse him.

The Trump transition called Democrats’ holdup over Gabbard “sad,” stressing the vital role of national security nominees, and said it is working with Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to get a Gabbard hearing before Inauguration Day.

“After the terrorist attacks on New Year’s Eve and New Years Day, it’s sad to see Sen. Warner and Democrats playing politics with Americans’ safety and our national security by stonewalling Lt. Col. Gabbard’s nomination, who is willing to meet with every member who will meet with her as this process continues,” transition spokesperson Alexa Henning said, adding that confirming national security nominees in the past has been a bipartisan effort.

But Schiff argued the Bourbon Street attack highlighted the need for qualified leaders.

“To me, New Orleans demonstrates the importance of having people who know what they’re doing focused on protecting the country and our national security,” he said, “not someone whose preeminent qualification is their undying fealty to the president.”

Al Weaver contributed.

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