Gabbard boosted in bid to become chief US spy ahead of committee vote

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to become director of national intelligence received a major boost on Monday when Senator Susan Collins said she would back President Donald Trump’s nominee.

“I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to strengthen our national security,” Collins, a moderate who is one of the few Republicans who has voted against Trump initiatives, said in a statement supporting Gabbard.

Collins issued her statement a day before the Senate Intelligence Committee is due to vote behind closed doors on the nomination, a source familiar with the process said on Monday.

Despite Collins’ support, Gabbard still faces an uncertain path to becoming the nation’s top spy.

The intelligence panel has nine Republicans and eight Democrats, and with every Democrat expected to oppose Gabbard, she can afford to lose the support of only one Republican to be favorably recommended to the full Senate.

Some of the panel’s other Republicans have not said whether they would vote in favor of sending her nomination to the full Senate for a vote.

Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed doubts about the choice of Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democrat and combat veteran without significant intelligence experience, for a position overseeing all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.

During her hearing, Gabbard faced close questioning from senators from both parties about her past defense of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and comments seen as supportive of Russia.

While in the House of Representatives, Gabbard introduced legislation that would have dropped charges against Snowden, a former government contractor who leaked thousands of National Security Agency documents and then sought asylum in Russia.

Gabbard repeatedly declined to answer when asked if she considered Snowden a traitor. “I am focused on the future and how we can prevent something like this from happening again,” she said in response to Republican James Lankford.

Collins last month was one of three Republicans who voted against another of Trump’s national security nominees, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who is now secretary of defense.

The vote for Hegseth was 50-50 in the 100-member Senate, but he became secretary because Vice President JD Vance broke the tie in his role as president of the Senate. It was only the second time in U.S. history that a cabinet secretary was confirmed with a vice president breaking a tie.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Editing by Nick Zieminski and Deepa Babington)