The former Democratic member of Congress from Hawaii has many critics and no formal intelligence experience.
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. She’s known chiefly for her opposition to American wars abroad — and sympathetic views on autocrats like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.
The president-elect’s announcement of her nomination as Director of National Intelligence stunned members of Congress, along with current and former members of the intelligence community.
One senior former intelligence official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the pick, described the choice as “left turn and off the bridge.”
The surprise choice nonetheless came as something of a relief to those who feared Trump might nominate the combative former diplomat Ric Grenell, who briefly served as acting DNI in his first administration.
It will also almost certainly face headwinds when it comes time for her Senate confirmation hearings.
“I have a lot of questions,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters after the pick was announced.
Gabbard, 43, left the Democratic Party in 2022 and became a favorite of conservative media. She endorsed Trump this August and later appeared on the campaign trail with him.
Her foreign policy views have frequently put her firmly outside the mainstream of U.S. national security experts in both parties.
***
Gabbard served 17 years in the Hawaii National Guard and subsequently joined an Army reserve unit. She has deployed to the Horn of Africa, Kuwait and Iraq, and she has said those experiences nurtured a deep skepticism of U.S. interventionism.
Despite her background, she never served on the House Intelligence Committee during her eight years in Congress.
The possibility of Gabbard as DNI also drew alarm from those outside the U.S.
One Western intelligence official said it could lead America’s allies to curb how much information they share with Washington. “I imagine even Israel will have serious qualms — America’s main intelligence partner on terrorist threats,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
“Worse still, what some allies share may now be shaped by political goals rather than professional intelligence sharing,“ said the official.
