Democrats in the U.S. Senate are pushing to delay hearings regarding the controversial nomination of Tulsi Gabbard for the position of Director of National Intelligence, while Republicans accuse their opponents of playing politics.
This information was reported by Axios, as stated by "European Truth".
Sources from the portal indicate that Senator Mark Warner, who serves as the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is not agreeing to the Republican Party's request to hold hearings on Gabbard early next week.
Warner pointed out that the committee has yet to receive Gabbard's FBI clearance, ethics declaration, or questionnaire prior to the hearings, according to the source.
According to the committee's rules, a background check must be conducted at least a week before the hearings.
At the same time, another source close to Gabbard notes that she completed the background check process last week.
The publication highlights that without the necessary materials or approval from the Democrats, the hearings on Gabbard may be postponed until the end of next week—if not later.
Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (Republican) "intends to hold these hearings before the inauguration day" of Donald Trump, a committee representative said in an interview with Axios.
"The Intelligence Committee, candidates, and the transition period are all working diligently to achieve this goal," he noted.
Meanwhile, the team of elected President Donald Trump stated that they are "saddened to see Senator Warner and the Democrats playing politics while disregarding the safety of Americans and our national security".
The committee's rules stipulate that confirmation hearings cannot be held earlier than seven days after the "questionnaire, income declaration, and responses to additional pre-hearing questions" have been received.
Gabbard continues to meet with Senate Democrats ahead of the hearings and plans to speak with Warner as well as other Democratic senators on the Intelligence Committee.
Earlier reports indicated that the American intelligence community and their European counterparts express concerns regarding the intentions of elected President Donald Trump to nominate Tulsi Gabbard as head of the National Intelligence Agency.
Gabbard is controversially known for having met with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, criticized the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, and referred to U.S. policy towards Ukraine as "the second Afghanistan".
For more details, see the article From Hawks to Critics of Kyiv: Who in Trump's Team Will Be Responsible for Ukraine and the War.