Washington “After a confirmation hearing this past week that left even Republican senators openly questioning whether she should be put in such a critical role, there is growing concern in political circles that Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as director of national intelligence could be in serious trouble,” several people familiar with the situation told NBC News.
Her unwillingness to immediately respond to a question about whether Edward Snowden, a former government worker who released highly sensitive documents before applying for asylum in Russia, was a traitor is especially troubling.
According to someone with knowledge of the confirmation process, Gabbard has a 50/50 chance of passing.
In a full floor vote, Democratic senators are anticipated to unanimously reject Gabbard’s nomination, meaning that she would only need to lose the support of three GOP senators to be confirmed.
According to someone familiar with the White House’s thinking, Gabbard’s response to the Snowden question startled many officials inside the White House, and she appeared ill-prepared.
Another source acquainted with the White House’s thinking claims that President Donald Trump was drawn to the Snowden incident. According to this source, Trump pondered out loud as he watched a video of it how her failure to provide a direct response would be seen.
According to this individual, he was interested in whether it would make a difference or how it would impact her prospects of being nominated.
During her Senate Intelligence Committee appearance, Gabbard was questioned by senators from both parties over her previous remarks endorsing Snowden and advocating for his pardon.
During a conversation with Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., Gabbard declined to categorically declare Snowden a traitor.
Gabbard responded to Lankford’s direct question on whether Snowden is a traitor by saying, “My heart is with my commitment to our Constitution and our nation’s security.”
“If confirmed as director of national intelligence, I’m committed to working with you to ensure that there is no future Snowden-type leak,” she continued, adding that she has demonstrated throughout her nearly 22 years in the military and during her time in Congress how seriously she takes the privilege of having access to classified information and our country’s secrets.
“Senator, I’m focused on the future and how we can prevent something like this from happening again,” Gabbard said in response to Lankford’s follow-up question.
The White House privately argued before Gabbard’s hearing that she needed to put in the effort to convince doubting senators, which raised new questions about her chances of being confirmed.
According to someone with knowledge of the confirmation process, she has the greatest work ahead of her in persuading senators to support her.
According to someone familiar with the procedure, Gabbard held simulated sessions as part of her intensive preparation for her confirmation hearing.
White House officials maintain that Trump supports Gabbard, and on Friday, he tweeted an article on Truth Social praising her performance during the confirmation hearing.
When asked if there were any reservations about Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News that President Trump nominated Gabbard because he thinks she will do a great job as the Director of National Intelligence and that we expect the Senate to confirm her.
One of the people familiar with the White House’s thinking responded, “Yes, absolutely,” when asked if the administration intends to defend Gabbard with the same vigor as it did for Pete Hegseth, who had a difficult time getting confirmed as defense secretary.
According to this source, the president and his friends will be closely monitoring who supports her and who doesn’t, and the White House wants to pressure senators to vote on her confirmation.
In 2013, while employed as a National Security Agency contractor, Snowden disclosed a wealth of highly classified papers that exposed the existence of an international monitoring program. He fled to Russia to seek asylum after the Justice Department charged him with espionage later that year. In 2022, he was granted naturalization there.
During her run in the 2019 Democratic presidential primary, Gabbard previously referred to Snowden as a courageous whistleblower and even declared her willingness to pardon him.
Yes, Gabbard answered at the time when asked if she would pardon Snowden if elected by podcast host Joe Rogan.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, questioned Gabbard during Thursday’s session about whether, if confirmed as DNI, she would support Snowden’s pardon or clemency.
“I would not take any action to advocate for any actions related to Snowden,” Gabbard told the senator, adding that it would be my duty to protect our country’s secrets.
While acknowledging that Snowden should not have revealed all of the documents he did, Gabbard appeared to defend his actions in response to a question posed by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
What message would a DNI who would applaud employees and contractors who choose to reveal our country’s most private information as they see appropriate send to the intelligence community? Warner enquired.
However, Gabbard said Warner, he also broke the law by disclosing material that highlighted outrageous, unlawful, and unconstitutional programs occurring throughout our government, which resulted in significant improvements.
The Senate panel that interrogated her on Thursday will now determine whether to pass her nomination out of committee when she concludes her confirmation hearing. Gabbard’s nomination will go to a full Senate vote if she receives support from a simple majority, which might consist solely of Republicans.
But Gabbard’s impending vote is still in jeopardy because Republicans only have a one-seat majority on the committee, and the consequences of her testimony this past week were felt right away.
NBC News’ “Meet the Press” host Lankford, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had earlier stated that he definitely was. However, Lankford told reporters following Gabbard’s hearing: “I think there are a lot of questions after.”
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, expressed concern that her candidacy would be in doubt.
Her one-on-one sessions with senators have received mixed evaluations, according to the first source familiar with the confirmation process.
However, a source close to Gabbard claims that following her hearing, she met with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., the head of the intelligence committee, to discuss their plan. Since the hearing, the White House, Cotton, and Gabbard have been in unison, the insider continued.
The individual went on to say, “We felt really good about the reaction from Senators Collins and Cornyn.”
But according to the source, Gabbard’s staff wasn’t sure if Lankford and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind, supported her.
During her testimony, Gabbard was pressed by Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, regarding her views on warrants pertaining to Americans who were found in surveillance data. I felt she performed good, Cornyn told reporters after the session.
However, he declared on Friday that he will back Gabbard’s confirmation.
Collins, a centrist who voted against Hegseth in the past, has demonstrated a readiness to reject Trump nominees. During the session, she asked Gabbard if she would advocate for Snowden’s clemency.
Collins told reporters that she was pleased with Gabbard’s answers to my questions, especially the one in which she explicitly stated that she would not propose a pardon for Edward Snowden, after she stated that she would not pursue a pardon for Snowden.
According to a senior Republican Senate staffer who spoke to NBC News, Gabbard will likely be confirmed both on the floor and in committee.
The aide went on to say that all of her issues with members can be resolved.