Gabbard’s path through Intelligence Committee narrows ahead of key hearing

Republicans are warning that Tulsi Gabbard’s path to confirmation to lead the US intelligence apparatus is narrowing as she appears to be having trouble winning over top GOP senators.

Gabbard, along with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kash Patel, are scheduled for their confirmation hearings this week as senators face some of President Trump’s most controversial nominees.

But it is Gabbard who appears to have the slimmest path to confirmation as she struggles to take on Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which will determine her fate, ahead of Thursday’s hearing.

“I think it remains to be seen,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an intelligence member, when asked if Gabbard can win the committee’s support. “I think the jury is still out.”

A second Senate Republican agreed, telling the Hill that Gabbard “has a path (that) remains narrow.”

Gabbard can’t afford to lose a single vote on the Intelligence Committee, which is split 9-8 and has two GOP members who are considered swing votes: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), who last week voted against another Trump nominee on the floor, and Todd Young (Ind.).

Collins told The Hill in an interview that he wants to press Gabbard on her position on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows warrantless surveillance of foreign targets.

Gabbard has tried to walk back her past criticism of the show, but Collins told The Hill that she doesn’t necessarily believe Gabbard’s change of heart.

“There are a number of questions I want to follow up on on sight,” said Collins, who added that he didn’t want to preview them “because I want to hear his answers without practice,” though he expects Gabbard to be well prepared.

“But there are a lot of obvious problems,” Collins said. “His responses to the written questions were very blanket. I know there have been many reports that he has changed his position. That’s not how I read his responses. I read them as, ‘I’m going to take a look at the reforms and I will check if they meet my concerns.”

Gabbard, as a Democratic member of the House, Legislation proposed in 2020to repeal section 702 and voted against reauthorizing the program.

But recently he said so Punchbowl News that the 702 program is “crucial” and “must be protected to protect our nation while guaranteeing the civil liberties of Americans” in an attempted turnaround.

“If confirmed as (intelligence director), I will defend the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans by maintaining vital national security tools like Section 702 to ensure the safety and freedom of the American people,” Gabbard said.

His latest statement left it unclear whether he would bring back a warrant requirement to review information leaked to Americans, a key issue for privacy-minded lawmakers, but 702 cosponsors considered the program.

Collins also took issue with Gabbard’s views on Syria and her 2017 meeting with former President Bashar Assad.

He said he won’t make a decision on the candidacy until after the hearing. Collins voted against Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, twice last week.

As for Young, two Senate GOP aides described the ex-Marine as a “problem” for Gabbard.

“These members are going to have a very difficult time getting to ‘yes,'” said one GOP aide.

The panel-based issues come after reports surfaced that Gabbard was struggling in meetings with Senate Republicans in an attempt to win them over.

Complicating Gabbard’s situation is that her issues are different from those plaguing Hegseth, one of Trump’s most controversial nominees.

Hegseth’s problems centered largely on personal matters, including allegations of sexual impropriety and drunkenness.

Gabbard’s are almost all policy-focused, which have been harder to get some members through.

She also doesn’t have Hegseth’s communications, or the backup of the conservative media, which rushed to her side when her candidacy was set in early December.

“(He) has conservative credentials and friends at Fox to rely on buoy support,” the Senate GOP aide said. “She’s a Democrat. … she’s not one of us yet. There’s no such thing as that, the goodwill, like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to dig her out of a hole.’

Even if it were to go through committee, there are other members who indicate they will oppose it. The Senate GOP aide noted that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) is making it clear to members of the GOP Conference that he “opposed” her.

McConnell’s office said he had no information to share about his expected votes.

Alexa Henning, spokeswoman for Gabbard, noted there are no public “no” votes and pointed to positive meetings she’s had on both sides of the aisle ahead of her hearing.

“There is not one GOP senator on record opposing Lt. Col. Gabbard’s nomination. In fact, there are many on record, including bipartisan members of the Senate Intel Committee, who have shown positive support for his nomination and qualifications,” Henning said in a statement.

“He has met with nearly every GOP senator in the US Senate and with Democrats who have accepted his invitation to meet. He is continuing the advice and consent process in the Senate and awaits his hearing.”

While Gabbard faces trouble, senators believe Kennedy and Patel have strong paths to confirmation.

Kennedy faced the opening questions, giving his past comments on vaccines, specifically the polio vaccine. However, his push towards concern on this front has apparently worked, and Republicans are expected to support him, barring a catastrophic performance before the Senate Finance Committee or the Health, Education, Senate Work and Pensions (Help) in the Senate. later

“People are quite comfortable with him, actually. … What they do is get to know him and then they like him,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (RN.D.).

“We all have daughters and wives and granddaughters who just think it’s Elvis,” he continued with a laugh. “All these old women love him so much that he’s looking for the kids (and) getting rid of that red dye shit.”

Cramer added that Kennedy is not “unreasonable,” arguing that he does not want to handle or ban vaccines and has a large following for his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

Trump’s team remains cautiously optimistic, but the notes help committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) remain a wild card given his vote to impeach Trump in 2021.

“I think the RFK guy gets it,” said a source close to Trump’s team. “You can’t drop your balls in these hearings and say something weird and provocative. You don’t want to back them into a corner.”

Meanwhile, Patel has garnered perhaps the most intense scorn on the Democratic side outside of Hegseth, with the party pressuring Republicans to reject his bid to lead the FBI.

That seems increasingly unlikely, however, as Patel has made no fatal mistakes since his nomination, with members of the Judiciary Committee expecting him to face few real problems en route to confirmation on the Senate floor.

But the Republicans stand out quickly: one of the main screws before either committee could damage itself irreparably.

“Obviously, they’re the ones with the most questions … than there are certainly some of these other candidates,” Cornyn said of Gabbard and Kennedy. “I’m looking forward to having the hearings.”

Alex Gangitano and Rebecca Beitsch contributed.

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