The former Congresswoman’s previous stance against the intelligence establishment may prove an early difficulty in her confirmation process.
Tulsi Gabbard will appear before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence next week in a bid to win her confirmation as the next director of national intelligence.
A committee advisory shared with The Epoch Times announced that the confirmation hearing will take place on the morning of Jan. 30.
Gabbard previously served as a Democrat representative for Hawaii in the House from 2013 to 2021 and was a member of the House Committees on Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, and Armed Services, including its Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations.
She joined the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003, transferred to the Army Reserve in 2020, and currently holds the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Gabbard’s political career has not been without its bumps. The former Congresswoman began breaking rank with Democrats in 2016, endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the primaries over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022 and joined the Republican Party in 2024 to support President Donald Trump’s bid for a second term, saying that the GOP was more welcoming to “independent-minded people” who were committed to the Constitution.
“It is because of my love for our country, and specifically because of the leadership that President Trump has brought to transform the Republican Party and bring it back to the party of the people and the party of peace, that I’m proud to stand here with you today, President Trump, and announce that I’m joining the Republican Party,” Gabbard said at the time.
Gabbard has continued to come to loggerheads with the intelligence establishment in Washington over her unorthodox policy stances, including her previously long-held belief that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) should be repealed.
FISA 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect information en masse from foreign targets through large-scale surveillance programs, which may indirectly collect the sensitive private data of U.S. citizens and others inside the United States.
“The civil liberties of the American people have been trampled on under the blank check of Section 702 … [it’s] allowed our government to collect, retain, and search communications of everyday Americans without a warrant and with blatant disregard for our Fourth Amendment constitutional rights,” Gabbard wrote on Twitter in 2018.
After facing significant pushback from Congress on the issue in recent weeks, Gabbard announced that she would support FISA 702 as a critical national security tool.
Gabbard acknowledged earlier in the month that “significant FISA reforms have been enacted since my time in Congress to address these issues.”
Some of Trump’s appointees, such as Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, have faced critical appraisals from the Senate.
In Trump’s November nomination of Gabbard posted on Truth Social, he wrote that she would contribute to the administration’s strength-through-peace foreign policy and uphold the Constitution.
“I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!” Trump wrote.