Tulsi Gabbard confirmation hearing for director of national intelligence role begins today

Gabbard, a former Democrat who represented Hawaii in Congress from 2013 to 2021, is an unconventional pick to oversee the nation’s 18 spy agencies. 

She served in the Army National Guard for more than 20 years,  but does not have a background in intelligence. 

The 43-year-old was born in American Samoa and grew up in Hawaii in a socially conservative household. She entered politics as a Democrat at age 21 when she was elected to the Hawaii statehouse, but was deployed to Iraq and left the position after a year. After a deployment to Kuwait, she won a seat on Honolulu’s City Council in 2010. 

She became the first Hindu member of the House when she was sworn into Congress in 2013. She was also the first American Samoan elected to Congress. During her four terms in the House, Gabbard served on the Armed Services, Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees. 

Gabbard opted not to run for reelection to the House in 2020, instead launching a longshot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Two years later, she left the Democratic Party, saying that it was “under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers.” 

She endorsed Mr. Trump’s bid for the White House last summer and was tapped to serve as co-chair of his transition team. 

Gabbard’s decision to join the Trump administration marks the latest political shift for the former congresswoman. Early in her political career, she opposed gay marriage and condemned abortion. But while in Congress she voted to protect abortion rights and supported same-sex marriage. During the 2016 campaign, she gave a leadership position in the DNC to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont. 

Gabbard faces a narrow path to confirmation amid concerns over her decision to meet with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2017, her past push to pardon National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, her views on Ukraine and her previous opposition to renewing a key government surveillance authority, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. 

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said Monday she’s seeking clarity from Gabbard about her position on Section 702. Gabbard, who sought to repeal the controversial law that authorizes the U.S. government to collect the communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant, has since reversed her stance. In a statement to Punchbowl earlier this month, Gabbard said she now supports the surveillance authority, calling it “crucial” to protecting national security. 

In 2017, Gabbard made a secret trip to Syria and met with Assad. The trip faced an outcry from her fellow lawmakers, who argued it legitimized the brutal dictator. She also doubted whether the Assad regime was behind a chemical weapons attack on its own civilians. 

In 2020, Gabbard called for the dismissal of charges against Snowden, who  leaked a trove of information on the U.S. government’s top-secret mass surveillance programs. Snowden, who was charged with espionage in 2013, has been living in exile in Russia. 

Gabbard drew further ire after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when she made statements that were viewed by some as parroting Russian propaganda. 

Read more here. 

• What: Tulsi Gabbard appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing 
• Date: Thursday, Jan. 30 
• Time: 10 a.m. ET
• Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. 
• Online stream: Live on CBS News in the play above and on your mobile and streaming device.