‘I think I don’t find your change of heart credible’: The Tulsi Gabbard controversy, explained

It’s been almost a month since Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States, and the expected controversies haven’t missed a single beat so far. The ever-expanding band of misfits that make up his nominations for major government positions has been telling, to say the least, and each nomination has been one ludicrous choice after the next.

Much of the work lies during the Senate confirmation though, and with the Senate being a majority, it has been a sweep so far for Trump’s pick. The latest confirmation hearing, which saw well-known anti-vaxxer and nephew of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appointed as the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, has been quite worrisome, to say the least.

However, a bigger problem could lie with Tulsi Gabbard‘s confirmation as national intelligence chief. While her personality and character might have been under the radar for most people who have not been heavily involved with politics, her role as intelligence chief has concerned people. But for the unlearned, the curious question is who exactly Tulsi Gabbard is, and why it’s concerning that she holds a top position such as that.

From Bernie to Bashar, and now to Trump’s intel chief

For a position that acts as a steward of the nation’s most important secrets, oversees 18 US spy agencies, and serves as a close adviser to the President, a 52-48 confirmation decider doesn’t sound reassuring. However, with her work yet to start, this wouldn’t be her first rodeo with the government as a whole.

Tulsi Gabbard started as a rising star in the Democratic Party, a combat veteran with a unique background that made her stand out among the usual crowd of politicians. She was a strong critic of Trump during his 2016 campaign and was a staunch supporter of Bernie Sanders, even resigning from her post as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee to endorse him. But then came the shift, over the years, Gabbard slowly drifted away from the Democratic Party, citing corruption and hypocrisy. In 2022, she formally left and later embraced Republican ideals, supporting Trump’s bid for re-election.

This journey hasn’t been without controversy. She has called for leniency toward Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, who are both accused of leaking troves of classified U.S. information that intelligence officials at the time described as causing potentially grave damage to America’s national security and U.S. allies. But it was her January 2017 trip to Syria and Lebanon that raised the most eyebrows. Gabbard met with now-deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a move that was heavily criticized across the political spectrum. There’s also her past comments appearing to blame NATO for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which made her a divisive figure in foreign policy circles.

What this means for national security

But away from all that, there still lies the serious question: Is Tulsi the perfect person for this job? Some privacy advocates and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle remained skeptical about Gabbard’s sudden shift in stance, and the subject became a major focus of her confirmation hearing.

“I think I don’t find your change of heart credible,” said Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the panel’s vice chair. “Because the world today is more complex and more dangerous than ever before, and we need serious people with sufficient experience to be able to navigate that complexity.”

Beyond competence, there’s also the hot topic of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows intelligence agencies to collect the phone calls, emails, text messages, and other communications of almost any non-American located outside of the United States without a warrant. Gabbard was once a loud critic of this law. But now, as intelligence chief, she supports the reauthorization of an amendment that has received bipartisan backing, arguing that national security must take precedence over personal privacy concerns.

Whether her confirmation will be seen as a bold move or a reckless mistake remains to be seen. But for now, Tulsi Gabbard’s presence in the Trump administration is just another chapter in an already chaotic presidency.