Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, delivered a blistering critique, pointing to her past statements that appeared to undermine NATO and U.S. intelligence assessments.
“Ms. Gabbard has excused our adversaries’ worst actions,” Warner argued. “She blamed NATO for Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and refused to acknowledge the intelligence community’s unanimous conclusion that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people.”
Warner also questioned whether Gabbard would be willing to stand up against politically motivated purges of the intelligence community—an implicit reference to former President Donald Trump’s history of targeting officials involved in investigations related to the January 6th Capitol riot.
“A vote in favor of her confirmation is an endorsement of Trump’s lawless efforts to hollow out our national security workforce,” Warner warned.
From Democrat to Republican—Gabbard’s Political Shift
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii (2013–2021), made headlines in 2022 when she left the Democratic Party, calling it an “elitist cabal of warmongers.” Two years later, she officially joined the Republican Party and became a co-chair of Trump’s presidential transition team, leading to her nomination for the intelligence post in November 2024.
