Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's nominee to become director of national intelligence, received the support of two key Senate Republicans on Tuesday.
Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young and Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, both members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced they will support Gabbard's nomination, seemingly giving Trump's nominee enough backing to head before the full chamber.
"I appreciate Tulsi Gabbard’s engagement with me on a variety of issues to ensure that our intelligence professionals will be supported and policymakers will receive unbiased information under her leadership," Young posted Tuesday morning on X with a letter from Gabbard.
"I have done what the Framers envisioned for senators to do: use the consultative process to seek firm commitments, in this case commitments that will advance our national security, which is my top priority as a former Marine Corps intelligence officer.
"Having now secured these commitments, I will support Tulsi’s nomination and look forward to working with her to protect our national security."
Less than an hour later, HuffPost’s Igor Bobic posted: "New: GOP Sen. Jerry Moran will also support Tulsi Gabbard today. Sen. Moran plans to vote yes on Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination,' his spox tells me."
Young and Moran joined Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who said Monday she would back Gabbard.
"I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to strengthen our national security," Collins, a moderate who's one of the few Republicans who has voted against Trump initiatives, said in a statement supporting Gabbard.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has a 9-8 partisan split, meaning Gabbard could only afford to lose one Republican vote, assuming all Democrats vote against her. It now appears all GOP members will vote to advance her nomination.
The panel was expected to vote behind closed doors on the nomination later Tuesday.
During her hearing, Gabbard faced close questioning from senators from both parties about her past defense of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and comments seen as supportive of Russia.
While in the House of Representatives, Gabbard introduced legislation that would have dropped charges against Snowden, a former government contractor who leaked thousands of National Security Agency documents and then sought asylum in Russia.
Gabbard repeatedly declined to answer when asked if she considered Snowden a traitor. "I am focused on the future and how we can prevent something like this from happening again," she said in response to Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
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