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Who: Tulsi Gabbard
Nominated for: director of national intelligence
You might know her from: A former U.S. representative from Hawaii, Gabbard ran for president as a Democrat in 2020 before shifting right, officially joining the Republican Party and backing President Trump in October 2024.
- She does not have an intelligence background.
- She's a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, previously serving in the Hawaii Army National Guard and deploying for tours in Iraq and Kuwait. She has generally been critical of U.S. involvement abroad, particularly in the Middle East. While serving on the House Armed Services Committee, she called for a tougher response to global terrorism while urging a U.S. withdrawal from foreign interventions focused on what she defined as "regime change."
- Gabbard has faced criticism since she traveled to Syria in 2017 and met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the recently ousted leader who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians.
What this role does: The director of national intelligence leads the intelligence community across 18 agencies and organizations and advises the president on national security issues, including through drafting and delivering the President's Daily Brief. Gabbard would also be involved in managing the intelligence community budget, which was $76.5 billion in 2024.
Here's what to expect at the hearing:
When the Senate Intelligence Committee meets at 10 a.m. ET to consider Gabbard's nomination, senators are likely to ask probing questions about Gabbard's meeting with Assad, particularly her skepticism of U.S. intelligence concerning Syrian human rights abuses like the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons on civilians. Gabbard has defended that meeting, arguing that U.S. officials should meet with foreign leaders rather than engage in "counterproductive regime change wars."
Senators will likely also have questions about her previous positions on intelligence collection authorities.
Gabbard introduced legislation in 2020 that would repeal Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a program that allows the U.S. intelligence community to collect foreign communications without a warrant. U.S. officials have said the authority is vital for getting sensitive insights into threats ranging from cyberattacks to terrorist plotting, while privacy advocates have urged lawmakers to reform the law and add additional protections.
Gabbard has since committed in public statements to preserving the intelligence-gathering program while protecting Americans' Fourth Amendment rights.
Gabbard has also proposed dropping charges against former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who shared sensitive intelligence about U.S. global intelligence programs with journalists in 2013 before ultimately fleeing to Moscow, where he still resides. It's an unpopular position with senators on the committee tasked with overseeing the U.S. intelligence community.
Some senators are also concerned about Gabbard's history of defending Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Gabbard has echoed misleading Kremlin talking points justifying the invasion of Ukraine, while the U.S. intelligence community has been unequivocal about the threat that Russia poses to global stability and key U.S. security interests.
Gabbard has criticized then-President Joe Biden's support of Ukraine in its war against Russia, a conflict that has provided a lot of key intelligence about Russia's hybrid warfare to the U.S. and its allies. The committee has been split on supporting increased U.S. military aid to Ukraine but has constantly urged ongoing intelligence-sharing relationships with Kyiv.
Overall, lawmakers are stuck on Gabbard's policy positions while considering her nomination, unlike other Trump picks whose personal lives have threatened their chances at getting Cabinet jobs. However, even the most embattled candidates, like Pete Hegseth, have so far found a way through; he was narrowly confirmed to be the defense secretary in a late-night vote last week.
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