Tulsi Gabbard is struggling in her meetings with senators this week, sources told The Hill, citing the complex road ahead for her to win confirmation for director of national intelligence.
Nearly half a dozen sources, including senators and people familiar with the situation, said Gabbard was having trouble meeting with lawmakers, with one familiar source describing the meetings “not going well.”
“She turned out to be a little superficial, like a House member speaking at a hearing, rather than someone who has to provide the president’s daily intelligence briefings,” the familiar source said.
Two Senate Republicans also shared the concerns, with one noting that several members who have met with the former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii have so far come away unimpressed.
“I heard she’s not very well prepared. … I haven’t heard any great things,” the Senate Republican member said, describing them as “BS sessions.”
The No. 2 Senate Republican added that there was “a lot of eye rolling” from members who voted to remove Gabbard early on.
The lawmakers’ objections stem from Gabbard’s and her lack of experience Relations with US opponents.
She met in 2017 with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, whose government was toppled this week after he was accused of using chemical weapons against his own people. She was also a prominent defender of leaker Edward Snowden and echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arguments about the Ukraine war.
Her defense of Putin would make it complex for her to win support from people like outgoing Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has steadfastly supported Ukraine.
Another source familiar with their meetings on the Hill said senators were “probably predisposed to dislike her from the start.”
A Senate Republican aide whose member has met with Gabbard said the bad meetings she’s had “don’t make it easy” for her to win votes, adding: “She still has some work to do if she wants the job.” The more she meets solemn people, the more clearly they will realize that there is a skills gap.”
But the counselor was confident, calling her “a capable person who could learn quickly.”
“You have to get them up to speed very quickly. …She’s just not trained for the job. But I feel like she can make it work eventually,” the source said.
Another Senate Republican who met with Gabbard said some of her problems stemmed from positions outside Syria and Russia. In particular, they noted their previous votes against reauthorizing FISA Section 702, which gives the U.S. the authority to conduct warrantless surveillance of non-U.S. citizens residing abroad.
“The tough part is explaining things like, ‘She voted against it.’ [FISA Section 702] four times and now she has to be the defender of 702,” the member said.
Others expressed less concern about Gabbard.
“You will find that she is a clear shooter,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said earlier this week. “She is someone who, when focused, is extremely motivated and gets the job done, and she will also be someone who will be able to change the way DNI has been run to date [Director Avril Haines] and the direction we will go.”
“People just need to get to know her and feel comfortable with her,” he added.
Haines, appointed by President Biden, was the president’s first Cabinet official confirmed in the Senate; The upper house supported it on Biden’s inauguration day with a bipartisan majority of 84-10.
At the time, Haines was endorsed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), who is now Trump’s choice to lead the State Department.
Haines has the typical experience for the role – she held several national security positions during the Obama administration, including CIA deputy director and White House deputy national security adviser.
She replaced Trump’s director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, who was previously a congressman from Texas. He drew backlash against some of his decisions to declassify intelligence, which was seen as an attempt to spread partially unverified information that could harm Trump’s political enemies.
The Trump transition has pushed back on reporting that Gabbard is having difficulty in her meetings with senators.
“These cowardly anonymous sources are desperate to stay in power, so they hide behind the media to spread these falsehoods that directly undermine the will of the American people.” President Trump won with a mandate from the American people for change , and that is one of the reasons he nominated Lt. Col. Gabbard for the DNI,” said transition spokeswoman Alexa Henning.
The Gabbard furor comes as most of Trump’s other nominees are in relatively stronger positions. Pete Hegseth, the president-elect to lead the Pentagon, appeared to be in grave danger last week before embarking on a series of meetings with lawmakers and media in an attempt to turn the situation around.
“She’s probably more vulnerable than Hegseth right now,” said the source familiar with Gabbard’s meetings in recent days, adding that people who were on Capitol Hill with the defense secretary-elect feel he has ” “We turned things around.”
Lawmakers are now confident they can win confirmation after riding through the wave of problems.
“I have to say, in the middle of last week I felt that the sentiment against him was increasing. I think that has changed significantly,” said Senator Ted Cruz. (R-Texas) said. “The dynamic has shifted significantly in Pete’s direction. I think Pete will be vindicated.”
Mullin was more explicit.
“It didn’t look too good last week,” he said. “But I thought he could do it if he got through the week and he did. Now you see the tide turning for him as he takes the fight to the Senate. He makes his case and it was effective.”
