Tulsi Gabbards Syria visit doesnt faze GOP senators who also seem poised to confirm Ratcliffe as CIA director

President-elect Donald Trump’s top spy picks appear to be enjoying an increasingly receptive Senate GOP, as they make the rounds huddling with senators in a bid to shore up support for their confirmations.Director of National Intelligence designee Tulsi Gabbard has faced heightened scrutiny over her 2017 visit to Syria, but GOP senators appear to be downplaying that.

Meanwhile, almost no Senate Republican appears to have publicly voiced reservations about CIA director designee John Ratcliffe.“I think that’s an outstanding pick,” Sen.John Cornyn (R-Texas) mused to reporters Wednesday about Ratcliffe, who he considers a friend.

“I think he’s going to be one of the more boring confirmation hearings we will have, which I think is OK with him.”Ratcliffe, a former congressman, served as Trump’s DNI during the tail-end of his first administration, previously was confirmed by the Senate with no Republicans opposed to him, despite Democratic resistance.The aspiring CIA director had garnered far less attention than some of Trump’s other staffing selections.Initially, Gabbard proved to be one of the more controversial choices, with some Republicans admitting to some skepticism about the former Democrat.“We’ll have lots of questions.

She met with Bashar Assad.We’ll want to know what the purpose was,” Sen.

James Lankford (R-Okla.) told CNN shortly after Gabbard was announced.Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update.

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Never miss a story.Lankford, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, met with Gabbard Monday and indicated to reporters that he was comfortable with her explanations.

“We talked about her Syria visit, you know, talked about some of the things with Snowden and some of her previous comments,” Lankford explained to reporters, per the Washington ...