Chuck Schumer Pleads With Republicans to Block ‘Very Bad’ Tulsi Gabbard: In Secret Ballot ‘She’d Get 10 Votes’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) literally pleaded with his GOP colleagues to block Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as director of national intelligence ahead of her confirmation vote on Wednesday.
Gabbard’s nomination by President Donald Trump has been controversial and some of the sharpest critiques came from conservatives. She faced tough questioning during her confirmation hearing, but Gabbard was nevertheless confirmed on Wednesday
Schumer was realistic that Democrats did not have the numbers to block Gabbard’s nomination when he spoke on the Senate floor, and made one last attempt to sway some Republicans to his side. With the GOP’s narrow majority and Vice President JD Vance able to cast a tie-breaking vote, at least four Republican senators would have had to break ranks to prevent Gabbard’s confirmation, a threshold that so far has not been met for any of Trump’s nominees, with the partial exception of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who dropped his bid for Attorney General amid swirling controversies and a collapse of his support among Republicans.
An excerpt of Schumer’s remarks:
My guess is, if a secret ballot were cast on Tulsi Gabbard, maybe she’d get ten votes. You all know how bad she is. And so I know there are — that people feel they want to please the president in his nomination, but there are certain times you have to buck and stand up and say “No, this is just a very bad choice for America,” and the nomination of Ms. Gabbard is simply one of those.
I plead with my colleagues — I know it’s the last minute — to think twice, to vote no, as we all will vote, because this is such an awful nomination who will endanger our national security and our intelligence operations throughout the country and the world.
The New York Democrat’s appeal across the aisle was ultimately unsuccessful, as the Senate voted to confirm Gabbard, with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as the sole Republican dissenter.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
This article has been updated with additional information.
