Recent reporting suggests that the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard for director of National Intelligence is in jeopardy. The concern does not appear to be about illegal behavior. Nor does it seem to concern her ability to properly manage the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Instead, it appears to stem from controversial worldviews that she appears to share with the President of the United States. If those appearances are a reality, then the situation not only poses serious problems for the U.S. Congress, the Trump administration and the Republican National Committee but may also be a harbinger of more dysfunction in American politics to come.
For the U.S. Congress, the news begs questions about the legisprudence of advice and consent. With J.D. Vance’s vote, the U.S. Congress confirmed a candidate whose nomination was criticized for, at a minimum, the appearance of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct. However, it now appears to be unwilling to confirm another candidate for having worldviews that do not align with the political establishment. This is despite the fact that the candidate is a decorated combat veteran who appears to have served her country with honor.
All of this is bound to lead to criticism of the congressional processes that are involved in the evaluation of a nominee for a cabinet-level office.
For the White House, the news begs questions of whether the Trump administration has any realistic shot of being able to fundamentally reform the Intelligence Community (IC). Some Trump supporters argue that the IC must be reformed because its leadership “colluded” with the political establishment “to smear Trump as a Russian pawn.”
In their eyes, the members of Congress on the Senate Intelligence Committee are part of that political establishment. That is because they are the ones who reported that the first Trump campaign “willingly engaged with Russian operatives implementing the influence effort.”
Now, other members of Congress will be viewed as blocking a nominee committed to reforming the IC. That, in turn, will not only reinforce the deep state narrative. It will raise concerns about the possibility of the Trump Administration being able to root out partisan factions within the IC.
For the Republican National Committee, the news begs questions about whether there is a glass ceiling for Democratic defectors who join the party. It is clear that Tulsi Gabbard is one of the most famous of those defectors. She was labeled a "Russian pawn" by Hillary Clinton when she lodged an unsuccessful campaign for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.
After being scorned by her own party leadership, Gabbard quickly gravitated toward the right. That switch was quite useful to the Republican National Committee. After the electoral loss to Joe Biden, the party leadership has been working hard to close the gap in the number of voters. Having a former presidential candidate from the other party has made that job a little bit easier. That is why a failed confirmation would be seen as a betrayal if it was brought down by the Republicans themselves.
For these reasons, the American people should be very concerned about the risk that the confirmation process for Tulsi Gabbard poses to American politics. If it wants, the U.S. Congress could mitigate that risk by taking a more structured approach to her confirmation process.
That approach would start with the public declaration of the base criteria for determining her eligibility. It would continue with an evaluation of empirical evidence against that criteria.
To be fair, it seems unlikely that will happen. It also seems like a real possibility that she won’t receive confirmation in the end. If those expectations prove correct, then there will be many Americans who will view her failed confirmation process as nothing more than a witch hunt. And, that could destabilize the American electorate even further.
The views expressed are those of the author.
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