Tulsi Gabbard has been confirmed as the new director of national intelligence. The vote was 52 to 48. It was basically a straight party line vote with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voting ‘no’ like he did with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. But she is through, and that is incredible.
It was a tough one. As you know, I went to part of the confirmation hearing, and they were all so negative on her. It is like they didn’t want to try something new, notwithstanding Donald Trump’s overwhelming victory and his promise to the American people that he was going to shake things up. He said it would not be business as usual, and he had his team of ‘Avengers’ who he was going to put in there.
Even so, you had a bunch of old naysayers saying, you know, ‘She’s different. She looks different. She sounds different. She doesn’t say all the things that all the others have said.’ And it took quite a bit of browbeating to get these Republican senators in line. I mean, the letters she had to write. They really make you bend the knee when you are in her position.
But you know what? Tulsi is in now, and that’s that. All we really needed was the ‘yes’ vote, and we thank them for that. There should, however, be a conversation about exactly what extractions are appropriate for senators to demand of Cabinet nominees. They are working for Trump, right? They have oversight by the Congress, but they are not working Congress. They weren’t hired by you directly, senator.
I have a couple in mind, and I will do them the favor of not mentioning them here. But I think there will be a conversation to come on those who harassed people like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Tulsi into ‘you will adopt all of my policy positions or I won’t vote yes on you.’ You are not the president. It is annoying.
Regardless, Tulsi got through and that is the important thing. Thank goodness. Things are going to change. They are going to change within the intelligence services and the coordination of intel. Maybe we won’t be so quick to say things like ‘WMD’ or have 51 former intelligence officials cooperating with the agencies to undermine a presidential candidate. We need change.
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,006 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.