US Senate confirms Trump's nominee Tulsi Gabbard as intelligence chief

The US Senate has confirmed Tulsi Gabbard to serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

The Senate voted 52 to 48, mostly along party lines, to confirm Gabbard on Wednesday to the position overseeing the 18-agency intelligence community and acting as Trump's top adviser on intelligence issues.

The only Republican to vote against Gabbard was Senator Mitch McConnell, the party's former leader in the chamber. No Democrats or independents voted in favour of the nominee.

During her confirmation hearing last month, Gabbard vowed to do her "very best" to find the truth, share it with Trump and his advisors and provide Congress with "unbiased, timely, and accurate" intelligence.

She is the latest high-ranking nominee to win Senate confirmation as the new administration works to reshape vast portions of the federal government, including the intelligence apparatus.

Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democrat, faced criticism about her lack of experience and questionable judgment.

Russia, Syria, Snowden

She faced questions about past statements seen as sympathetic toward Russia's war in Ukraine.

Her controversial 2017 meeting with then-Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad also sparked outrage.

At her hearing, Gabbard faced particularly pointed questioning from senators from both parties about her past defense of former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked thousands of highly classified documents and then sought asylum in Russia.

Some were noticeably frustrated at her refusal to call Snowden a traitor.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged senators to think twice about her confirmation.

"It's a person who has said things like, the Ukraine invasion was caused by the United States, not by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. It's somebody who has denied Assad's use of chemical weapons despite all of the intelligence," he said on the Senate floor before the vote.

Gabbard's nomination endangers the security of the US, said Schumer. "My guess is, if a secret ballot were cast on Tulsi Gabbard, maybe she'd get 10 votes. You all know how bad she is," he added.