Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump's nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence, will testify Thursday morning at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The 43-year-old former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii and combat veteran would oversee the nation's 18 spy agencies.

President Trump’s choice to serve as the director of national intelligence faced tough questions from senators in both parties.

Senate Republicans and their allies believe former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard ’s chances of being confirmed as director of national intelligence will hinge on her performance during her confirmation hearing next week, with several mentioning she has an “uphill battle” in her chances of being confirmed.

Any one of those resume bullet points might be enough to sink her precariously perched nomination, but in her confirmation hearing today it was Edward Snowden that dominated the discussion. Judging from the line of questioning from senators in both parties,

Tulsi Gabbard faced tense questioning about Russia at her confirmation hearing for director of national intelligence.

Tulsi Gabbard refused to call former NSA contractor Edward Snowden a ‘traitor’ and stressed that his leaks exposed ‘egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programs’ within government agencies (AP)