Reuters. Tulsi Gabbard, a former U.S. representative with little intelligence experience, was sworn in as the top U.S. spy on Wednesday (February 12), with Republican support behind a nominee once considered one of President Donald Trump's most controversial picks.
At the swearing-in ceremony, Trump praised Gabbard as a "woman of great common sense" and assured that she would work "tirelessly to keep America safe." He also entrusted her with "overseeing urgently needed reforms to the U.S. intelligence community to protect the rights and the civil liberties of all Americans."
In response, 43-year-old Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent before backing Trump and joining the Republican Party in 2024, expressed her commitment to "refocus our intelligence community by empowering the great patriots who have chosen to serve our country in this way and focus on ensuring the safety, security and freedom of the American people.”
Despite serving four terms in the House of Representatives, Gabbard neither worked at a spy agency nor served on an intelligence committee. She will now lead an agency established after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the nation's intelligence operations—one of the most critical national security roles in the U.S. government.
Earlier Senate voted 52 to 48, mostly along party lines, to confirm Gabbard to the position overseeing the 18-agency intelligence community and acting as Trump's top adviser on intelligence issues.
Gabbard visited Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh as a US legislator, which led to her being placed on Azerbaijan's "blacklist." She has traditionally been a strong advocate for Armenian issues. In 2019, she co-authored the U.S. resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
