Dem
47
GOP
53
While the choice of John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA was not controversial, the choice of his boss, the Director of National Intelligence, most definitely is. Donald Trump has picked former representative Tulsi Gabbard for that position. She would oversee 18 spy agencies. She would also prepare the President's Daily Brief, but that barely matters, since Trump never read them as president. He did ask the DNI to come over a few times a week and explain things in person, preferably with pictures.
Gabbard, an Army National Guard veteran, ran for president as a so-called Democrat in 2020, but acted more like a Republican than a Democrat. She got nowhere. In this cycle, she left the Democratic Party, became a Republican, and endorsed Trump. Her view on foreign policy is that America should pull up the drawbridge and withdraw from the world. If she fires all the intelligence agents and stops collecting information, then when a crisis happens somewhere, the U.S. will be totally unprepared for it. She also has a habit of parroting the Kremlin line on world affairs, including blaming Joe Biden for Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine. She also appears to have a friendly relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is guilty of countless human rights violations.
Her confirmation may be slightly easier than Gaetz' but not much. This will be a real test for the Senate. (V)