In a vote that fell mostly along party lines, the upper chamber voted 52-48 to confirm Gabbard to oversee and coordinate the work of the 18 intelligence agencies in the United States. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) broke with Trump and voted “no.”

Despite Gabbard serving in Congress as a Democrat for eight years and being the former vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, no Democrat backed her nomination. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pleaded with Republicans on the floor minutes before her vote to block Trump’s “awful” nominee, saying she can’t be trusted with the nation’s secrets.

“This endangers our security,” Schumer said, turning across the aisle to his colleagues. “You all know how bad she is.”

But Republicans mentioned Gabbard’s more than 20 years of military service, including her promotion to lieutenant colonel, saying she had the right qualifications and background to keep America safe.

“The attacks on congresswoman Gabbard are another case of Democrats equating political disagreement with disloyalty,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) said. “If Washington wants Americans to trust our intelligence agencies again, we need to take an ax to the weaponization of those very agencies.”

Republicans were initially skeptical of Gabbard’s nomination. She had a turbulent confirmation hearing over her past support for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, previous comments that appeared sympathetic to Russia, and a meeting she had with former Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Gabbard’s responses to questions on Snowden became the hearing’s biggest flashpoint. She repeatedly refused to call Snowden a traitor, even as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle gave the former Democratic congresswoman more than a half-dozen chances to withdraw her past support of Snowden.

Gabbard repeated that Snowden “broke the law,” but she declined to call him a traitor. She also mentioned that he exposed “egregious, illegal, and unconstitutional programs that are happening within our government.”

During her confirmation hearing, she told senators her opponents accuse her “of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, a guru’s puppet, Modi’s puppet, not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet masters.”

In her opening statement, she described the politicization of intelligence agencies, echoing Trump’s rhetoric. She said Trump’s opponents weaponized the FBI to “falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin,” and she criticized former Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan.

The former congresswoman from Hawaii received a major boost after several Republican senators announced they would vote for her, which allowed her nomination to advance out of the Senate Intelligence panel. 

Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Susan Collins (R-ME), James Lankford (R-OK), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) appeared at one time to have concerns about Gabbard’s views on several key matters. However, the four indicated they were more comfortable moving forward with the nomination after a closed session and further conversation. Her chances of confirmation increased following a pressure campaign by Trump allies and Vice President JD Vance. 

The lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve has no intelligence experience and has never run a government agency or department. Gabbard ran for president in 2020 and dropped out and endorsed then-candidate Joe Biden. In 2022, she announced she was leaving the Democratic Party. Days ahead of the 2024 election, Gabbard said she was joining the Republican Party at a Trump rally in North Carolina.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created to address intelligence failures exposed by the 9/11 attacks. Republicans have been critical of the office over the years, claiming it has expanded and become too politicized. Trump has also been suspicious of the nation’s intelligence services.