Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard (born 1981) is an American politician and military officer who represented HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is a U.S. state consisting of a group of volcanic islands in the central Pacific Ocean; its capital is Honolulu, on the island of Oʻahu. Hawaii was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959, as the 50th state. Its population at the 2020 Census (April 1, 2020) was 1,455,271.Open the full entry’s 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as U.S.United StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry director of national intelligence from February 2025 to June 2026; a former Democrat, she later moved to the Republican Party.
Contents16 sections
Key facts
April 12, 1981Born in American Samoa
2002Elected to the Hawaii State House
In 2002, at age 21, Gabbard was elected to the Hawaii State House of Representatives.[2]
2003–2009National Guard Service and Senate Aide
Gabbard enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003 and deployed to Iraq with a field medical unit in 2004–2005. From 2006 to 2009 she was a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka; she graduated from the Accelerated Officer Candidate School in 2007 and in 2008–2009 deployed to Kuwait to train counterterrorism units.[2]
November 2, 2010Elected to the Honolulu City Council
Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council on November 2, 2010, and founded Kanu Productions in 2011.[2]
2012–2021U.S. Representative
On November 6, 2012, Gabbard won the seat for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021. She was the first American Samoan congresswoman and the first practicing Hindu member of Congress.[2][1]
On January 22, 2013, she was elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee; she stepped down on February 28, 2016, to endorse Bernie Sanders for president.[2]
2019–2020Campaign for the Democratic Presidential Nomination
Gabbard said on January 11, 2019, that she would run for president in 2020 and formally launched her campaign on February 2, 2019; on March 19, 2020, she ended her campaign and endorsed Joe Biden.[2]
2020 onward: Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve
Gabbard served in the Hawaii Army National Guard until 2020, attaining the rank of major, and then moved to the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel.[2]
October 11, 2022Leaves the Democratic Party
November 13, 2024Named as Choice for Director of National Intelligence
On November 13, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump said that he had chosen Gabbard to be director of national intelligence.[2]
February 12, 2025Confirmed and Sworn In
On February 12, 2025, the Senate confirmed Gabbard as director of national intelligence by a vote of 52–48 (roll-call vote No. 50); all yeas came from Republicans, and the nays came from 45 Democrats, 2 independents and Republican senator Mitch McConnell.[4]
The same day Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi administered the oath of office to Gabbard in the Oval Office of the White House. The Office of the Director of National IntelligenceOffice of the Director of National IntelligenceThe Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is an independent U.S. federal agency established under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Led by the Director of National Intelligence, it leads and integrates the U.S. Intelligence Community of 18 agencies and organizations.Open the full entry described her as the eighth Senate-confirmed director of national intelligence and the first female combat veteran to hold the post.[5][6]
March 2025First Indo-Pacific Trip and Annual Threat Assessment
In March 2025 Gabbard made her first trip to the Indo-Pacific as director of national intelligence, visiting Hawaii, Japan, Thailand and India and stopping in France on the way back; in Hawaii she met Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and in India she held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gave keynote remarks at the Raisina Dialogue.[7]
On March 26, 2025, she delivered the opening statement on the intelligence community’s 2025 Annual Threat Assessment to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, listing threats from transnational criminal networks such as Mexico-based cartels, groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda, and China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, and stating that “the IC assesses that China is our most capable strategic competitor.”[8]
May 22, 2026Announces Resignation
On May 22, 2026, Gabbard announced her resignation as director of national intelligence, effective June 30, 2026.[9]
As of November 2026: No Longer Director of National Intelligence
As of November 2026, the leadership page of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence lists Jay ClaytonJay ClaytonJay Clayton (Walter Joseph Clayton III) is an American lawyer and government official who has served as U.S. Director of National Intelligence since August 2026 and, from October of that year, also as the White House’s head of artificial intelligence affairs (“AI czar”). He practiced at Sullivan & Cromwell for more than two decades, chaired the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2017 to 2020 and was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2025 to 2026.Open the full entry, sworn in on August 3, 2026, as director of national intelligence.[10]
Family
Gabbard married Eduardo Tamayo in 2002; they divorced in 2006. In 2015 she married Abraham Williams.[2]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Office of the Director of National Intelligence: Official website: https://www.odni.gov/ (opens in a new window).[10]
United States Senate: Official website: https://www.senate.gov/ (opens in a new window).[4]
Sources
- Tulsi Gabbard (opens in a new window)
- Tulsi Gabbard Fast Facts (opens in a new window)
- SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE UNITED STATES SENATE (opens in a new window)
- U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 119th Congress - 1st Session (opens in a new window)
- Remarks During a Swearing-in Ceremony for Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence (opens in a new window)
- Intelligence Community Welcomes Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence (opens in a new window)
- Readout of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s First Trip to the Indo-Pacific (opens in a new window)
- DNI Gabbard Opening Statement as Delivered to the HPSCI on the 2025 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community (opens in a new window)
- Tulsi Gabbard resigns as Trump’s national intelligence director (opens in a new window)
- Leadership – Office of the Director of National Intelligence (opens in a new window)