Some of President Donald Trump's Cabinet picks have proven quite controversial for most Democrats and even some Republicans, including former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, his nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence.

There are reportedly legitimate concerns now that some Senate Republicans may not support Gabbard's nomination and that she is in danger of falling short of the votes needed for confirmation, according to The Hill.

The main sticking point for those Republicans is Gabbard's alleged refusal to affirmatively denounce ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who stole millions of classified documents exposing NSA spying against U.S. citizens and absconded to Russia, as a "traitor," as well as her prior support for Snowden to be pardoned and absolved of espionage charges.

Ed Snowden

The Hill reported that Gabbard was pressed several times by multiple GOP senators on the Intelligence Committee to denounce Snowden as a "traitor" and to acknowledge that his actions had "damaged" and "harmed" U.S. national security.

Gabbard, however, repeatedly declined to directly address those insistent demands and instead only asserted that Snowden "broke the law" and that, if confirmed as DNI, she would take certain steps to guard against similar thefts and leaks of classified intelligence materials in the future.

Following Thursday's confirmation hearing, one unnamed Republican senator told The Hill that there was plenty of "discussion" among GOP members about whether Gabbard was the appropriate person to lead the nation's several intelligence agencies, while another anonymous Republican senator said, "People are holding their cards pretty close to the vest, but that nomination is in trouble."

To be sure, while only a few GOP senators are said to have taken exception to Gabbard over the Snowden issue, that may be enough to sink her nomination, given the slim Republican majority in the Senate.

Indeed, if Gabbard can win the support of all nine GOP members of the Intelligence Committee, she could afford to lose up to three GOP votes on the full Senate floor and still be confirmed with a simple majority. If she doesn't clear the committee, however, Gabbard would need to obtain supermajority support of 60 votes to be confirmed, an unlikely prospect if Democrats remain united against her.

FISA Section 702

Unfortunately for Gabbard, the Snowden issue isn't the only confirmation problem she has with some Republican senators, as NBC News reported that some remain distrustful of her apparent reversal on what is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

That program authorizes the collection of information on suspected foreign spies and terrorists but also apparently allows for the warrantless spying on U.S. citizens incidentally caught up in the surveillance of foreign targets, a highly criticized loophole that has been seriously abused in the past.

While serving in Congress, Gabbard was an outspoken opponent of FISA Section 702 who sought the law's repeal, but following some legislative reforms last year to protect against civil rights abuses, she now says that she fully supports the reformed law and will defend its continued usage and future reauthorization.

What, if anything, will the White House do?

The Hill reported separately that President Trump's White House is now near a crossroads with respect to Gabbard's nomination and whether additional action will be necessary to convince reportedly recalcitrant Republican senators to support her confirmation -- though, notably, no GOP senator has directly said they intend to vote against her nomination.

Unnamed sources suggested Trump's team was waiting to see whether the strategy of "grinding it out" through the confirmation hearings would prove sufficient or whether a more public pressure campaign, such as what was launched in support of Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth's troubled nomination, would be needed to get Gabbard confirmed.

Team Gabbard seemed unphased by the developments, though, as the nominee's spokeswoman, Alexa Henning, said, "Lt. Col. Gabbard was happy to answer questions from the Committee in both open- and closed-door sessions. Especially when able to focus on the threats we face as a nation and how as DNI she will keep the American people safe and restore trust in the [intelligence community]," and added that they "look forward to receiving questions from the Committee and to her vote next week."