According to the New York Times, the test vote indicated that despite early reservations even among some Republicans, the former Democratic congresswoman had the necessary support to be confirmed in a vote expected by Wednesday.
The Senate on Monday voted along party lines to advance the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be the director of national intelligence, signaling the collapse of Republican resistance to her nomination and placing her on a smooth path to confirmation.
The 52-to-46 vote was the latest sign that Republicans, facing intense pressure from President Trump to confirm his nominees, are willing to drop serious reservations and capitulate to his wishes. It cleared away the final hurdle to Ms. Gabbard’s confirmation, once thought to be an uphill battle in the Senate amid strong bipartisan concerns about her positions on intelligence matters and sympathetic statements about the former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
She is now all but certain to be confirmed in a final vote to be held either late Tuesday evening or early Wednesday.
The action came as Democrats, who have called Ms. Gabbard unfit for the role, pressed their Republican colleagues to join them in opposition.
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