Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation hearing will test Republican senators who’ve otherwise spent the first weeks of Donald Trump’s term falling in line with his cabinet picks.
Several Democratic senators expect at least some resistance from Republicans when it comes to confirming Gabbard as Trump’s director of national intelligence — a development that would mark a departure from the lack of significant opposition that’s defined other nominees’ paths to the cabinet thus far.
The possibility that her nomination could go down has left Democrats optimistic that their message — that Trump’s nominees are unfit and, in some cases, dangerous — is finally getting through, especially after they failed to stop several of Trump’s other controversial cabinet picks including Pete Hegseth.