Hawaii government leaders mostly celebrate Tulsi Gabbard’s election

Hawaii government leaders and political observers expressed surprise, praise, pride and a bit of ridicule over longtime local public servant Tulsi Gabbard, who was chosen by Republican President Donald Trump to be the next director of national intelligence.

Gabbard, who represented parts of Hawaii as a Democrat in the state legislature and in Congress before lashing out and leaving the party in 2022, was announced Wednesday as Trump’s nominee for the Cabinet-level job after helping Trump win the last presidential election.

Honolulu City Councilwoman Esther Kia’aina, who was assistant secretary for insular affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration, said she was pleasantly surprised by where Gabbard landed.

“As a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve, a former member of the House Armed Services Committee and a Pacific Islander, Tulsi Gabbard is well suited to align our national intelligence resources with the threats we face in the continental United States, within the Indo-Pacific region and internationally ,” Kia’aina said in a statement.

Kia’aina, who along with former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann lost to Gabbard in 2012 for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, also said she believes Gabbard will ably represent Hawaii, the Pacific Islands and the country in her position, which is subject to Senate confirmation.

State Rep. Gene Ward (R, Hawaii Kai-Kalama Valley) expects Gabbard to bring something of a watchdog role to the job, whose duties include daily briefing the president on national intelligence as head of a coalition of 18 federal agencies that includes the Central Intelligence Agency Agency, the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“It’s going to be an interesting future for her and for these agencies because she’s a no-nonsense, give-me-the-facts (person),” Ward said. “Go girl, go.”

Local attorney Ernie Martin, who previously served on the Honolulu City Council with Gabbard and ran for a U.S. House seat as a Democrat in 2018, said in an email: “It comes as no surprise to me that Tulsi has advanced to this position when she got her political aptitude, ambition and belonging to our state and country. I wish her the best of luck as Director of National Intelligence.”

Tamara McKay, state chairwoman of the Hawaii Republican Party, called Gabbard’s nomination fantastic.

“Her roots being back here, her changing parties and being involved in the Trump campaign, I think will help bring awareness to our state and hopefully drive us in a better direction with our local economy,” McKay said.

Govt. Josh Green, a Democrat, said in a statement that he hopes Gabbard, whom he has known for a very long time, “can bring some Aloha to the new administration. This is going to be an era that really tests humanity and our will to to treat vulnerable people with compassion.”

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) criticized Trump for the choice.

“Along with many of the nominations Donald Trump has announced so far, the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead our nation’s intelligence community reflects the frivolity with which the president-elect treats positions of critical importance and trust,” Hirono said in a statement. new nomination, Trump makes it even more clear that the only thing he is serious about is running our country into the ground.

University of Hawaii at Manoa political scientist Colin Moore said he was surprised Gabbard was named to the job because she has no senior-level national intelligence experience.

Moore expects Gabbard may struggle to win confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate because of experience, political views and past activities that include meeting with accused war criminal and Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017 while a member of the U.S. house.

However, Moore also said Gabbard represents someone who aligns with Trump’s views on foreign policy and is being rewarded for her help during the election.

“It certainly aligns with Trump’s America-first vision for American foreign policy,” Moore said. “Gabbard is widely known for her non-interventionist foreign policy views. She has been a deep critic of the US foreign policy establishment, which includes the intelligence community. This certainly signals a major upheaval that Trump promised.”

Moore said he thought Trump would give Gabbard a job in his administration, but more along the lines of something like head of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Gabbard is a veteran who served in the Hawaii Army National Guard from 2003 to 2020 and is currently a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve.

Born in American Samoa, Gabbard was first elected to office in 2002 when she successfully ran to represent parts of Leeward Oahu, including Waipahu, Honouliuli and Ewa in the state House.

Gabbard, a 21-year-old martial arts instructor at the time, became the youngest person elected to the Hawaii Legislature.

In 2004, Gabbard was barred from continuing to serve as a legislator due to Hawai’i National Guard rules that said an active duty member cannot hold office. Gabbard had enlisted in the Guard in 2023 and a year later volunteered for active deployment in a unit providing medical support to the 29th Separate Infantry Brigade.

Gabbard deployed to Iraq in 2004 and to Kuwait in 2008.

In 2011, Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council, representing downtown Honolulu, Alewa Heights, Kalihi Valley and parts of Makiki and Kalihi. She resigned in 2012 to run for a seat in the US House, which she won. She served four terms in Congress representing rural Oahu and Neighbor Islands from 2013 to 2021.

Gabbard chose not to run for a fifth term, instead competing in 2020 to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.

During her low-profile presidential run, Gabbard apologized for her work for an anti-gay advocacy group founded by her father, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage, which helped pass a state constitutional amendment that gave the legislature the power to ban same-sex marriage before she became a state legislator.

Retired University of Hawaii political science professor Neal Milner said he was surprised Gabbard received a high-level job in Trump’s administration.

“She talks a lot about national intelligence issues. I don’t think she has a lot of experience doing that kind of deep intelligence work,” he said.

Gabbard’s father, state Sen. Mike Gabbard (D, Kapolei-Makakilo-Kalaeloa), said he is proud of his daughter and is confident she will do an excellent job because she has a sincere desire to serve the state and the nation.

“Ever since she was a child, her sense of happiness has been service to ke akua (God) and others,” he said. “I think she is well suited for the position and I am sure she will do a great job.”