Gabbard’s past could complicate confirmation by the US Senate

In important ways, Tulsi Gabbard’s professional experience makes her ideally suited to serve in the second Trump administration.

She is a military veteran and former congresswoman who is comfortable speaking in public and with the media. Gabbard is one of the few women appointed to the Trump administration so far, and a woman of color in a party not known for racial and ethnic diversity.

Gabbard became the first Hindu member of Congress when she was elected to represent Hawaii in 2012, and took his oath of office with his hand on the Bhagavad Gita.

But Gabbard, 43, also has considerable baggage, particularly her support for autocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin of Russia and Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

The former congresswoman has also been dogged by her longtime ties to the Science Identity Foundation and its founder, Chris Butler. The Science of Identity Foundation is an offshoot of Hare Krishna, which former members have described as a cult.

Within minutes of the announcement of Gabbard’s nomination, national media such as CNN predicted that her election and the election of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to become US Attorney General would be established. big confirmation matches.

The position Trump nominated her for, Director of National Intelligencerequires Senate confirmation. The Director heads the U.S. intelligence community, which oversees and directs the implementation of the National Intelligence Program.

The Director serves as the principal advisor to the President, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council on matters of national security.

Democrats are already mobilizing against Gabbard’s nomination. The Democratic National Committee issued a press release Wednesday saying Trump’s nomination of Gabbard “puts Americans at risk,” citing news stories about her ties to al-Assad and affiliation with Russian talking points.

When asked about Gabbard’s nomination Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, pointed to the importance of the chamber’s “advisory and consent” role in confirming presidential nominees.

“These are extraordinarily serious jobs,” Warner said. “I have many questions.”

And while Republicans will control the White House and both houses of Congress in January, the Senate has 53 Republicans and 46 Democrats and one independent, meaning Gabbard can afford few GOP defections. Vice President-elect JD Vance could be called upon to cast a tie-breaking vote.

New to the GOP

Gabbard only joined the Republican Party last month after endorsing Donald Trump for president in August. Just two years ago, Gabbard was a Democrat before becoming an independent.

To many Democrats, Gabbard is an ambitious, opportunistic coattails. She was first interviewed by Trump for a possible role in his first administration after his surprise election in 2016.

In December 2019, Gabbard was the only Democrat to vote “present,” which is equivalent to abstaining, in the House’s resolution to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for his attempts to get Ukraine to investigate Biden.

While Trump praised Gabbard in a statement Wednesday as someone who “has broad support” from both political parties, she fared poorly in her 2020 Democratic presidential race and was a fierce critic of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and Kamala Harris’ campaign . this year.

Gabbard supported Joe Biden after dropping his own campaign for president in 2020, but she also opposed many of his administration’s policies, particularly its support for Ukraine.

A Rising Star

Gabbard’s career in politics has been meteoric. She was elected to the Hawaii Legislature at age 21, but enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2004. Currently a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve, Gabbard was deployed to war zones in Africa and the Middle East.

Two years later, she was a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka, a Democrat from Hawaii. She then had a brief stint on the nonpartisan Honolulu City Council.

Gabbard then served eight years in Congress representing Hawaii, where she was the member of the Armed Services, Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs.

Gabbard distinguished herself for openly criticizing Hawaii-born President Barack Obama over his handling of conflicts in the Middle East, including his refusal to describe certain groups as “Islamic terrorists.” Gabbard upset colleagues on both sides of the aisle when she made a secret trip to Syria to meet with Assad, who at the time had been accused of committing war crimes against his own people.

In 2019, during Gabbard’s presidential bid, Clinton compared her to a “Russian asset,” prompting a harsh rebuke from Gabbard along with a libel suit that ultimately went nowhere.

Religious ties

In the early years of her political career, local media reported how Gabbard and her family were prominent figures in the Science of Identity Foundation, which has a history of advocating anti-gay rhetoric. But that didn’t seem to hurt her at the polls.

During her time in Congress, the national media largely ignored Gabbard’s beliefs — with the exception of a long profile in The New Yorker, which detailed her ties to Butler, one person identified Gabbard as a guru, but some former followers have characterized her as a cult leader.

Her ties to Butler continued during her presidential campaign. Gabbard spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with companies affiliated with members of the organization, including one of her highest-paid consultants who lived in a remote town in Washington state.

Since leaving Congress, Gabbard has been openly skeptical of US support for Ukraine and has even come under fire for sharing Russian-backed conspiracy theories, proved to be baselesson US funding of biological weapons laboratories in the country.

Hawaii State Rep. Gene Ward said Gabbard’s appointment is a proud moment for Hawaii, as the state has not had many people in high office. Ward himself served for five years during the second Bush administration at the United States Agency for International Development.

“I think she’ll do a good job,” said Ward, a Republican. “She has her head screwed on. She has always been young, in a way, like a move and shake. And there are enough checks and balances within the intelligence community, if you will, to make sure the track is clear.”

Ward added that the primary reason Gabbard was elected is her allegiance to Trump.

Neal Milner, a former political science professor at the University of Hawaii and a Civil Beat columnist, agreed. But Milner said Gabbard is not qualified to be director of national intelligence.

“She doesn’t have the security experience,” Milner said, adding that the appointment would send ordinary professionals in the intelligence community “going crazy. He’s rewarding her for her loyalty. He’s giving her a position that’s probably going to be above her pay grade.”

Democratic Gov. Josh Green was somewhat more enthusiastic about the appointment.

“I have known Tulsi for a very long time and hope she can bring some aloha to the new administration,” he said in a comment on social media platform X. “This is going to be an era that truly tests humanity and our will to treat vulnerable people with compassion.”