Senate Confirms Tulsi Gabbard Despite Scrutiny Over Snowden Support

News
Addie Andrus
February 13, 2025
0
35
7 minutes read

The congresswoman and veteran resigned from her post with the Democratic National Committee to endorse Bernie Sanders.Photograph by Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call / Getty

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday as the nation’s Director of National Intelligence, despite a heated confirmation process in which she faced repeated questions about her past support for whistleblower Edward Snowden.

During her tenure in Congress, Gabbard proposed legislation that would have granted Snowden a pardon. Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, leaked classified documents exposing what he described as a “massive surveillance machine” operated in secret by the U.S. government.

At her confirmation hearing, senators repeatedly pressed Gabbard on whether she considered Snowden a traitor. However, she largely sidestepped the question, a stance that raised concerns among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Following the vote, Raw Story approached two Republican senators who supported Gabbard’s confirmation to gauge their views on Snowden and whether they shared Gabbard’s position.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who voted in favor of Gabbard, offered a vague response. “It’s a complicated question, isn’t it?” Johnson said. However, his stance on Snowden was far more definitive a decade ago. In a 2015 CNN interview, Johnson stated, “Our first line of defense is an effective intelligence-gathering capability combined with a robust, continuous monitoring and oversight of our intelligence agencies to make sure we’re not violating Americans’ civil liberties.

Tulsi Gabbard — (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

I think the demagoguery, the revelations of Edward Snowden have done great harm to our ability to gather that information.” Pressed again on Wednesday, Johnson repeated, “It’s a complicated question. I think he put lives at risk.” When asked specifically about Gabbard’s views, he continued to reiterate that the matter was “complicated.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who was not in the Senate when the Snowden leaks occurred, admitted to having little knowledge of the issue. “I don’t know a lot about that. So I’m not going to comment on it,” Tuberville said.

When asked if he had researched the controversy since it became a focal point of Gabbard’s confirmation hearing, Tuberville indicated he had not. Nonetheless, he voted to confirm Gabbard. Gabbard’s confirmation solidifies her role as a key intelligence figure in the administration, but questions surrounding her stance on Snowden—and how it might influence her approach to national security—continue to linger.