The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence in a 52-46 vote on Thursday.
However, Kentucky GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to vote “no,” sending a message to President Donald Trump.
All 47 Democrats voted against Gabbard’s nomination, while all Republicans, except McConnell, supported her. The confirmation demonstrates the GOP’s support for Trump’s attempts to reform the intelligence community, which often disagreed with him during his first term in office.
Gabbard will be sworn in at the White House later today.
Earlier this week, both Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy said they would vote to confirm Gabbard — essentially ensuring that there would not be any drama on the Senate floor.
Murkowski, Cassidy, and the other Republican senators who voted chose to move forward with the confirmation process by supporting cloture. The Democratic senators who voted, on the other hand, were against cloture.
“I will vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence,” Murkowski declared in a post on X.
“While I continue to have concerns about certain positions she has previously taken, I appreciate her commitment to rein in the outsized scope of the agency, while still enabling the ODNI to continue its essential function in upholding national security. As she brings independent thinking and necessary oversight to her new role, I am counting on her to ensure the safety and civil liberties of American citizens remain rigorously protected,” Murkowski added.
“President Trump chose Tulsi Gabbard to be his point person on foreign intelligence,” Cassidy said in a statement. “I will trust President Trump on this decision and vote for her confirmation.”
Gabbard was in Congress from the beginning of 2013 to the beginning of 2021. In 2022, she said she was leaving the Democratic Party.
She backed Trump for president in 2024 and said she was joining the Republican Party last year.
At the end of last week, John Thune, the majority leader in the Senate, put five more Trump nominees on the table for review. But Senate Republicans would have to agree on a time frame with Democrats if they want to confirm all of those nominees this week.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Senate took a procedural vote to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., another of President Trump’s Cabinet picks, as health secretary.
The final vote with the full Senate will be either Thursday or Friday.
Late last week, the Senate voted 52-47 to move forward on RFK Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Following tense hearings on Capitol Hill, the vote was in doubt when GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor, expressed uncertainty about supporting Kennedy.
After meeting with Vice President JD Vance, Cassidy announced that he would vote for RFK Jr. to lead the agency.
“I’ve had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend and even this morning,” Cassidy wrote on X Tuesday morning.
“I want to thank VP JD specifically for his honest counsel. With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes,” he wrote.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) stated that Kennedy embodies the change the nation needs.
“Mr. Kennedy, if confirmed, will have the opportunity to deliver much-needed change to our nation’s health care system,” he said, according to the New York Post. “He has spent his career fighting to end America’s chronic illness epidemic and has been a leading advocate for health care transparency, both for patients and for taxpayers.”
The chairman noted further that RFK Jr. answered more than 900 questions from the panel.
