Senate confirms Tulsi Gabbard as Trump's director of national intelligence

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence after Republicans who had initially questioned her experience and judgment fell in line behind her nomination.

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Gabbard was an unconventional pick to oversee and coordinate the country's 18 different intelligence agencies, given her past comments sympathetic to Russia, a meeting she held with now-deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad and her previous support for government leaker Edward Snowden.

Gabbard, a military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was confirmed by a 52-48 vote, with Democrats opposed in the sharply divided Senate where Republicans hold a slim majority. The only "no' vote from a Republican came from Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

She will take over the top intelligence post as Trump works to reshape vast portions of the federal government. Intelligence agencies including the CIA have issued voluntary resignation offers to staffers, while cybersecurity experts have raised concerns about Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency gaining access to sensitive government databases containing information about intelligence operations.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created to address intelligence failures exposed by the September 11, 2001. Republicans have increasingly criticised the office, saying it has grown too large and politicised. Trump himself has long viewed the nation's intelligence services with suspicion.

GOP senators who had expressed concerns about Gabbard's stance on Snowden, Syria and Russia said they were won over by her promise to refocus on the office's core missions: coordinating federal intelligence work and serving as the president's chief intelligence adviser.