Reasonable Sen. Susan Collins backed Tulsi Gabbard’s bid to develop into director of nationwide intelligence forward of a key committee vote Tuesday, in a major increase for the previous Hawaii rep’s prospects.
Collins (R-Maine), 72, who isn’t afraid to buck the GOP, having voted in opposition to Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth final month, praised Gabbard’s push to downsize the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence.
“After in depth consideration of her nomination, I’ll help Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of Nationwide Intelligence,” Collins mentioned in a press release Monday.
“The Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, nevertheless, has develop into far bigger than it was designed to be, and Ms. Gabbard shares my imaginative and prescient of returning the company to its meant dimension.”
The Maine Republican helped write the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which established the DNI place within the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults to reinforce coordination between the 18 federal intelligence companies.
Gabbard, 43, sat earlier than the Senate Intelligence Committee final week and was greeted by a handful of skeptical Republicans who have been leery of her previous report on key nationwide safety flashpoints.
Collins beforehand sounded skeptical of Gabbard and grilled her in the course of the listening to final week about whether or not she ever met with any recognized members of Hezbollah, noting the “hypothesis within the press.”
“No,” Gabbards shot again on the time, calling it an “absurd accusation.”
Previous to the listening to, Collins additionally appeared unconvinced by Gabbard’s change of coronary heart on Overseas Intelligence Surveillance Act Part 702, which provides the feds broad powers to conduct surveillance on non-Individuals dwelling abroad.
As a congresswoman, Gabbard had been a fierce critic of Part 702, amid considerations that it might consequence within the incidental assortment of intel on US residents in violation of the Fourth Modification in opposition to surveillance with no warrant.
However in the course of the listening to, Gabbard defined her reversal on Part 702 and underscored her dedication to safeguarding nationwide safety.
“The nationwide safety functionality that’s offered by Part 702 that allows this overseas surveillance on non-US individuals abroad is essential, interval,” she affirmed in the course of the public portion of her listening to.
Collins additionally defined that Gabbard “addressed my considerations relating to her views on Edward Snowden.”
Gabbard was repeatedly pressed on the controversial NSA leaker and declared that he “broke the regulation” and that she did “not agree with or help all the data and intelligence that he launched, nor the way in which through which he did it.”
She pressured that her objective is to forestall “one other Snowden-like leak.”
Collins is ranked as probably the most average Republican within the higher chamber by GovTrack. She’s additionally been dubbed the most bipartisan member of the chamber by Lugar Middle and the Georgetown College McCourt College of Public Coverage.
The Maine senator is probably probably the most endangered Republican up for reelection within the 2026 cycle, hailing from a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris gained by virtually seven share factors.
Nonetheless, she was beforehand perceived as an underdog in opposition to former state Home speaker Sara Gideon in 2020, having trailed her in practically each ballot, together with by double digits in some instances. In the end, Collins gained by 8.6 factors.
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