Tulsi Gabbard faces next test in confirmation battle with key Senate hurdle

Former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard will face another test Monday night in the Senate as she hopes to be confirmed to one of the most important national security posts in the U.S. government. 

President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) will get a cloture vote at 5:30 p.m., when she will need to get more than 50 votes in order to advance to a final confirmation vote. 

If the cloture motion passes, there will be 30 hours of debate on the Senate floor. Frequently, the debate between the cloture motion and the final vote is minimized in what’s referred to as a “time agreement” between Republicans and Democrats. But with the controversial nature of Gabbard’s nomination and ongoing frustrations with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its government audit, no such agreements are expected. 

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Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s choice to be the Director of National Intelligence, appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

This will set Gabbard up for a final confirmation vote on Wednesday at the earliest, when the 30 hours of debate expire. 

The nominee advanced out of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week, snagging the support of crucial GOP Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Todd Young, R-Ind.

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Collins came out in support of Gabbard despite concern she might not. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

Her success on the cloture motion and with final confirmation are much more favorable than her initial odds in the Intel committee were. 

In order to get the support of all the committee’s Republicans, Chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Vice President JD Vance worked around the clock. Their conversations with committee members and tireless efforts were credited with getting her past the key hurdle. 

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Tom Cotton carried out a calculated effort to get Tulsi Gabbard past the Intel committee. (Reuters/Getty Images)

In a final vote, Gabbard can only lose 3 Republican votes, assuming she does not get any Democratic support, as was the case in the committee vote. 

She already has an advantage over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as Collins supports her. The senator was one of three votes against Hegseth. 

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Hegseth was confirmed after Vance cast a tie-breaking vote. (Tom Williams)

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Despite the limited votes Gabbard can afford to lose, Republicans appear to be confident about her odds. This was signaled through the White House dispatching Vance to Europe for events and meetings during the time of Gabbard’s cloture and confirmation votes. If Republicans expected to need Vance to break a tie in the upper chamber, they likely would not have slated her vote for this week.