Some Republican senators are pushing for the unusual step of making public a key vote on Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination in the Senate Intelligence Committee, in an attempt to exert pressure on the members of a panel that typically does business behind closed doors.
The pressure campaign by senators allied with President Donald Trump, aimed at Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton, was described by two Senate GOP officials granted anonymity to speak about private deliberations.
Gabbard is set to face the Senate Intelligence Committee in open and closed sessions on Thursday. Typically, aside from certain public hearings, the panel deliberates and votes in private. That includes presidential nominations.
The talk of forcing open the committee vote underscores concerns among some Republicans that Gabbard’s nomination could die before it even reaches the floor.
Public pressure from Trump allies played a key role in getting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth across the finish line, and Gabbard’s allies believe some Republicans on the panel might vote a different way if they know their votes will be made public.
The committee is split 9-8 in favor of Republicans — meaning if all panel Democrats oppose Gabbard, as is expected, a single GOP flip could prevent her nomination from reaching the floor.
Several GOP committee members are seen as soft on Gabbard, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who said there were “obvious issues” with Gabbard’s shifting position on a crucial surveillance program in an interview with The Hill published Monday. “I know there’s been a lot of reporting that she’s changed her position” in favor of keeping the program, Collins said. “That’s not how I read her answers.”
A spokesperson for Cotton declined to comment.
A person familiar with Intelligence Committee procedure said while panel rules allow for the release of a vote tally, they do not allow for a public roll call of how each member voted. Members are free to disclose their votes if they wish, the person said.
Opening up the committee vote, in other words, would require the secretive committee to waive its rules, and it is unclear whether Cotton has that power.
The panel’s Jan. 20 vote on CIA Director John Ratcliffe was kept closed, with only the 14-3 tally released. Three committee members — Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) — ultimately opposed him on the floor.
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