Tulsi Gabbard’s bid for national director of intelligence has gained a key supporter, in the form of “serial disappointer” Maine Senator Susan Collins, flipping an essential Republican holdout on one of Donald Trump’s most dangerous nominees.

In a statement Monday, Collins said that Gabbard had eased some of her concerns about her nomination, such that she could now support Trump’s disastrous pick.

“After extensive consideration of her nomination, I will support Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence,” Collins said.

“As one of the principal authors of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that established this coordinating position, I understand the critical role the DNI plays in the Intelligence Community. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, however, has become far larger than it was designed to be, and Ms. Gabbard shares my vision of returning the agency to its intended size.”

Ahead of Gabbard’s hearing last week, Collins had expressed dissatisfaction with Gabbard’s critique of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows intelligence officials to conduct surveillance operations on foreign targets and Americans without a warrant.

During the open hearing, Collins had also appeared frustrated when Gabbard refused to call whistleblower Edward Snowden a traitor before the Senate committee. Suddenly, it seems, Collins had a change of heart, though it’s unclear if they spoke more extensively since Gabbard’s hearings on Thursday.

“In response to my questions during our discussion in my office and at the open hearing, as well as through her explanation at the closed hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Ms. Gabbard addressed my concerns regarding her views on Edward Snowden,” Collins said. “I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to strengthen our national security.”

While many are disappointed by Collins’s change of heart, few can be surprised.

“You know there’s an old saying in soccer, in English football: It’s the hope that kills you,” said Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe Tuesday. “I suspect they have a similar saying in Maine about Susan Collins.”

“Susan Collins never misses an opportunity to disappoint. She’s a serial disappointer. And Tulsi Gabbard rarely misses an opportunity to get it wrong,” said Richard Haass, the former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, on Morning Joe.

Representative Sean Casten, a Democrat from Illinois, went straight for the jugular.

“Why bother even being a senator if you think Tulsi Gabbard is fit for DNI? Just admit you’re a g-d rubber stamp for a felonious rapist,” Casten wrote in a post on X Monday.

A Department of Justice prosecutor is unhappy with the blowback Elon Musk’s fake “Department of Government Efficiency” is getting, and is threatening legal action. 

Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin posted a letter to Musk on X Monday asking Musk to “utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers.

“Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws,” Martin wrote. “Let me assure you of this: we will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.” 

Martin is likely reacting to a Wired article published Sunday that named six young engineers whom Musk has brought with him to help take over government databases: Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran. Some of them are still in college or are recent graduates, and many have connections to Musk’s companies, including xAI and SpaceX. 

Martin may also have been alluding to protests against DOGE. On Sunday, protesters showed up at the Office of Personnel Management’s  Washington, D.C., headquarters, attempting to block the doors of the building to stop DOGE employees from getting in. More demonstrators gathered outside of OPM on Monday to protest Musk and DOGE’s efforts, chanting, “We don’t want your tech solutions, give us back our Constitution,” and “Elon, Elon, have you heard? You’re a nasty, fascist nerd.”

The DOGE takeover at federal agencies including the OPM and the General Services Administration has been met with a backlash from civil servants in those offices, as well as the federal workforce at large. DOGE employees have locked out career employees at OPM and used an illegal server to facilitate their takeover of the agency, which manages all three million federal employees. 

Martin’s threats may have teeth, as Musk isn’t likely to take any challenges to his efforts lightly. But the tech mogul’s actions have likely also broken several laws through DOGE, including improper use of federal funds, possible HIPAA violations, and even security breaches of employees’ personal data. Donald Trump’s Justice Department doesn’t care about any of that, though.

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau stopped performing its oversight duties as soon as Trump appointed Scott Bessent as acting head, fulfilling the wishes of the country’s most powerful civilian, billionaire Elon Musk.

Bessent, who also serves as treasury secretary, sent a mass email to CFPB staff instructing them to stop all regulatory work, stop enforcing any rules, and stop conducting investigations, due to the need to “promote consistency” and align politically with the rest of the Trump administration, according to The Washington Post. The agency has also halted all public communications.

After Trump’s reelection, Musk called for lawmakers to “delete” the CFPB, stating that there were “too many duplicative regulatory agencies.” Republicans have long taken aim at the CFPB, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz recently introducing a bill to defund what he called an “unelected, unaccountable bureaucratic agency.”

The CFPB took initiative against predatory lending and hidden fees under its previous head, Rohit Chopra, and also increased its surveillance of large tech companies like Apple and Google. But with Chopra out and Bessent........

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