Trump's Cabinet Challenges: Gabbard's Confirmation Battle (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Now to the next big battle for President Trump. His nominee for Director of National Intelligence facing a Senate hearing this week. Tulsi Gabbard's appointment could be the toughest fight so far for the new administration, and that's saying quite a bit. ABC's Alex Brachet is in Washington with more on how the president's cabinet is taking shape. And Alex, this comes after Vice President Vance cast the rare tie-breaking vote to secure Pete Hegseth's confirmation.

Speaker 2: That's right, Janae. So this morning, two more pieces falling into place for President Trump's new cabinet. But let's start with Kristi Noem. The now Secretary of Homeland Security was sworn in Saturday afternoon, and Noem, who had been the governor of South Dakota and a staunch Trump ally, passed the Senate vote with bipartisan support 59 to 34, making her the fourth member of Trump's team to be confirmed. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth eked through his confirmation. Tied 50-50, Vice President J.D. Vance cast the final vote that pushed him through, Hegseth getting no votes from all Democrats and three Republicans, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitch McConnell. And another contentious confirmation coming up this week for Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. Her critics pointing to her lack of experience in intelligence. She's also made statements in the past blaming the U.S. for the war in Ukraine. And in 2017, she met multiple times with now-ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and voiced skepticism that Assad was using chemical weapons against his own people, despite overwhelming evidence from the U.S. Some Republicans even questioning whether she should oversee the 18 intelligence agencies and the $100 billion budget that comes with that role.