U.S. Senate Republicans will gather behind closed doors on Wednesday to pick their next leader in the face of a public pressure campaign by supporters of President-elect Donald Trump who favor the long-shot bid of a hardline Trump loyalist.

He rode a remarkable and ahistoric wave back to re-election last week, one in which his allies expanded their majority in the House, and the Senate will return in January with Republicans holding the gavels.

Donald Trump was expected to pick an outsider to lead the U.S. intelligence community. He exceeded expectations by choosing Tulsi Gabbard. The former Democratic member of Congress from Hawaii has many critics and no formal intelligence experience.

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of national intelligence

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he is appointing former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard—the ex-Democrat from Hawaii—as his director of national intelligence (DNI). Gabbard is among the latest of Trump's selections to key positions following his victory in the presidential race against Vice President Kamala Harris last week,