Director of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard

 

Responsibilities

• In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was created to close the gaps in the US Intelligence Community – a coalition of 18 agencies and organizations that include the NSA, DIA, NGA, NRO, and CIA.
• Elevated to a cabinet-level position during President Trump’s first administration, the DNI manages the multi-billion-dollar National Intelligence Program and the Military Intelligence Program, among others. 

 

Quote

“For too long faulty, inadequate, or weaponized intelligence have led to costly failures and the undermining of our national security and God-given freedoms enshrined in the constitution.” Gabbard said she would “work to end the politicization of the intelligence community,” in her confirmation hearing. 

 

Priorities

“I’ll work to assess and address efficiencies, redundancies, and effectiveness across ODNI to ensure (the) focus of personnel and resources is on our core mission of national security,” said Gabbard in her confirmation hearing.

 

Military Career

• Gabbard currently serves in the US Army Reserve as battalion commander of the 1-354 Regiment, in Tulsa, OK, leading soldiers in Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.

• Served in the military, either in the National Guard or the Army Reserve, since 2003, when she joined the Hawaii National Guard. Her deployments include: Kuwait from 2008-2009, as part of the Hawaii Army National Guard; and Iraq from 2004-2005, serving in a medical unit as part of the Hawaii Army National Guard. She later led a military police platoon in Kuwait.
• Awards include the Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal.

 

Political/Professional Career

• Joined the Republican Party in 2024, ending a two-year affiliation with the American Independent Party, endorsing then nominee Donald Trump.

• In 2020, she made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
• Vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016.
• Elected to the US House of Representatives at age 31, serving four terms, from 2013 to 2021, representing Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District. 
• Elected to the Honolulu City Council in 2010. Served until 2012 when she ran for and won Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District in the US House of Representatives.
• Elected to the Hawaii State Legislature in 2002, at just 21 years of age. Served until 2004 when she resigned to deploy to Iraq.

 

Education

• Hawaii Pacific University – BS degree in Business Management in 2009. 
• Accelerated Officer Candidate School, at the Alabama Military Academy. Upon  graduating in 2007, she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Hawaii Army National Guard.

 

Personal 

• Born on April 12, 1981, in American Samoa, Gabbard is one of five children born to Mike and Carol (née Porter) Gabbard. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Hawaii.
• Gabbard assumed the Hindu beliefs of her mother, an educator, who sat on the Hawaii Board of Education. Her father, Sen. Mike Gabbard, serves in the Hawaii State Senate (D-21st District).  
• Married to cinematographer Abraham Williams since 2015.