U.S president-elect Donald Trump has picked Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman and an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s foreign policy, to become his director of national intelligence.
Gabbard, 43, left the Democratic party in 2022 and was considered a possible candidate to become Trump’s Republican running mate.
She would take over from Avril Haines as top official in the sprawling US intelligence community after Trump starts his second term in January.
She is anticipated to be easily confirmed in the Senate, where Trump’s Republican colleagues will have at least a 52-to-48-seat majority beginning early next year.
However, the former US representative from Hawaii may meet opposition, particularly from President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats, due to her previous criticism of the current administration’s backing for Ukraine in its fight with Russia.
Trump said in a statement that he knows Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to the intelligence community, championing constitutional rights and securing peace through strength.
Gabbard has little direct experience with intelligence work and had not been widely expected to be tapped for the post, which oversees 18 spy agencies.
She was deployed in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 as a major in the Hawaii National Guard and is now a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserves.
Gabbard, who endorsed Trump for his return to the presidency, advised him ahead of his pre-election debate with vice president Kamala Harris in September and defended him in the face of what critics called a series of racist and sexist attacks against his Democratic rival.
