Sen. Todd Young said Tuesday he will support Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, improving her chances of confirmation.
Facing a wave of political pressure from Trump allies to back Gabbard, Young “engaged in extensive conversations” with Vice President JD Vance in which he sought written assurances about Gabbard’s perspective on whistleblowers, according to a person familiar with his deliberations who was granted anonymity to describe them.
“American intelligence officers around the globe deserve our respect and support. I appreciate Tulsi Gabbard’s engagement with me on a variety of issues to ensure that our intelligence professionals will be supported and policymakers will receive unbiased information under her leadership,” Young said in a statement to POLITICO.
“I have done what the Framers envisioned for senators to do: use the consultative process to seek firm commitments, in this case commitments that will advance our national security, which is my top priority as a former Marine Corps intelligence officer,” he added. “Having now secured these commitments, I will support Tulsi’s nomination and look forward to working with her to protect our national security.”
Young made his statement just hours before he is set to vote on Gabbard’s nomination inside the Intelligence Committee, where any Republican opposition could help scuttle her nomination.
The person familiar with Young’s deliberations said he also made clear he opposes granting any pardon to NSA leaker Edward Snowden — who was a major focus of Gabbard’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last week.
In a letter that Young posted online Tuesday, Gabbard committed to “holding accountable” any intelligence community employee, contractor or subcontractor who who leaks intelligence; that she would not “protect” members of the intelligence community who engage in an unauthorized disclosures; and committed to not “making any recommendations in a personal or profession capacity” regarding Snowden’s legal standing.
She also committed to working with the committee on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a controversial power that has been used to spy on Americans.
A hawkish internationalist in the mold of his former mentor the late Sen. Richard Lugar, Young sharply questioned Gabbard over her past support of Snowden.
“I think it would befit you, and be helpful to the way you are perceived by members of the intelligence community,” Young told Gabbard during a hearing last week, “if you would at least acknowledge the greatest whistleblower in American history, so-called, harmed national security by breaking the laws of the land.”
Young did not back Trump’s 2024 presidential bid and has called his judgment about dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin into question.
The Hoosier senator has found himself the target of heavy pressure from MAGA Republicans in recent days, including from Elon Musk, who called him a “deep state puppet” in a post on X before deleting it, saying later he stood “corrected.”
After Musk and Young spoke Sunday, Young’s office told POLITICO the billionaire Trump adviser did not press him on Gabbard during the call.
With statements from Young today and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine yesterday, Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas is the only Senate Intelligence Committee Republican who has yet to disclose how he will vote on Gabbard.
