Page 2 - aruba-today-20250205

A2 u.s. news
Wednesday 5 February 2025

Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to oversee US spy agencies,

clears Senate committee

By DAVID KLEPPER and FAR- to ODNI. cism that she was legitimiz-
NOUSH AMIRI Gabbard is a lieutenant col- ing a dictator and then more
Associated Press onel in the National Guard questions when she said she
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tulsi who deployed twice to the was skeptical that Assad had
Gabbard's nomination to Middle East and ran for presi- used chemical weapons.
be President Donald Trump's dent in 2020. She has no for- Gabbard defended her
director of national intelli- mal intelligence experience, meeting with Assad, saying
gence cleared a key Senate however, and has never run she used the opportunity to
committee Tuesday despite a government agency or de- press the Syrian leader on his
concerns raised about her partment. human rights record.
past comments sympathetic Gabbard's past praise of She has also repeatedly
to Russia and a meeting with Snowden drew particularly echoed Russian propagan-
Syria's now-deposed leader. harsh questions during the da used to justify the Kremlin's
A former Democratic con- nomination hearing. The invasion of Ukraine and in the
gresswoman, Gabbard is former National Security past opposed a key U.S. sur-
one of Trump's most divisive Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's choice to be the Agency contractor fled to veillance program.
nominees, with lawmakers Director of National Intelligence, arrives to appear before the Russia after he was charged Democrats said Gabbard's
of both parties also point- Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on with revealing classified in- response to questions about
ing to her past support for Capitol Hill Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. formation about surveillance her past views did little to sat-
Associated Press
government leaker Edward programs. isfy them. Democratic Sen.
Snowden. But the Senate the weekend unleashed by past views, they support her Gabbard said that while Mark Kelly of Arizona said
Intelligence Committee ad- Trump supporters and allies, calls to overhaul the Office of Snowden revealed impor- Gabbard lacks the judg-
vanced her nomination in a including Elon Musk. the Director of National Intel- tant facts about surveillance ment to take on a job that
closed-door 9-8 vote, with Until three GOP members ligence, which coordinates programs she believes are is so critical to the nation's
the committee's Democrats seen as swing votes an- the work of 18 federal agen- unconstitutional, he violat- security.
voting no. nounced their support, it cies focused on intelligence ed rules about protecting "Healthy skepticism is a good
Gabbard's nomination now wasn't clear her nomina- collection and analysis. GOP classified secrets. "Edward thing, but when someone
heads to the full Senate for tion would advance beyond lawmakers have also taken Snowden broke the law," consistently embraces sensa-
consideration. A vote has not the Intelligence Committee. aim at the office, saying it's she said. tional, but poorly supported
been scheduled yet. Given strong Democratic op- grown too large and politi- A 2017 visit with Syrian Presi- claims while dismissing the
Following a contentious con- position and thin Republican cized. dent Bashar Assad is another thorough assessments of our
firmation hearing last week, margins, Gabbard will need Senate Intelligence Chair- flash point. Assad was re- intelligence community, it
where some Republican sen- almost all GOP senators to man Tom Cotton, an Arkan- cently deposed following a becomes dangerous," Kelly
ators questioned Gabbard vote yes to win confirmation sas Republican, said Tuesday brutal civil war in which he said in a statement explain-
harshly, GOP support for to the top intelligence job. that he looked forward to was accused of using chemi- ing his vote. "But rather than
her fell into place following Though some Republicans working with Gabbard to cal weapons. Following her ease my concerns, she con-
a pressure campaign over have questioned Gabbard's "bring badly needed reforms" visit, Gabbard faced criti- firmed them."q

Lawsuit accuses University of California

of racial discrimination in admissions

A group called Students In addition, the filing alleges with 10 campuses from ask-
Against Racial Discrimina- that the California campuses ing about race in student
tion sued Monday in federal are violating the equal pro- applications and to appoint
court, alleging the university tection clause of the U.S. a court monitor to oversee
system admits students with Constitution's 14th Amend- admission decisions.
inferior academic creden- ment as well as Title VI of the Asian American and white
tials at the expense of better- Civil Rights Act of 1964, which applicants are discriminated
qualified ones. bars federal funds recipients against because of their
The complaint claims UC's from discriminating based on race, while Latino and Black
Students walk past Sather Gate on the University of California at admissions practices vio- race. students are "often placed
Berkeley campus in Berkeley, Calif., May 10, 2018. late a state law approved UC officials didn't immedi- at a significant academic
Associated Press by voters in 1996 that forbids ately respond Tuesday to disadvantage, and thus ex-
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A in undergraduate admissions considering race and other emails and phone calls seek- perience worse outcomes,
lawsuit filed this week ac- by favoring Black and Latino factors in public education, ing comment on the lawsuit. because of the university's
cuses the University of Cali- students over Asian Ameri- public employment and The lawsuit asks a judge to use of racial preferences,"
fornia of racial discrimination can and white applicants. public contracting. block the university system the complaint alleges. q