Donald Trump with Tulsi Gabbard in Duluth, Georgia, October 23, 2024 (Phil Mistry/Shutterstock.com)
Tulsi Gabbard‘s rocky tenure as Director of National Intelligence may be in jeopardy after her controversial congressional testimony last month attracted the ire of President Donald Trump.
The president has casually begun a process that could lead to her being replaced, The Guardian reports, noting that he has been polling Cabinet members about Gabbard.
At issue currently is her shielding of a former deputy who resigned in protest of the Iran war, just before Gabbard’s scheduled testimony at a Congressional hearing.
“It is not clear that Trump will actually fire Gabbard over the episode,” The Guardian reports. “Currently, there is no standout candidate to take the job, and advisers have cautioned that creating a high-profile vacancy before a successor is ready could cause unhelpful political distractions.”
A decision to fire the Director of National Intelligence now would come in the middle of a war with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, as the Department of Homeland Security remains partially shut down and FBI investigators responsible for monitoring threats from Iran have been fired.
Trump’s discussions are “an ominous development for Gabbard, given the president tends to poll his advisers when he starts to seriously consider whether a personnel change is necessary,” The Guardian notes. “Trump’s doubts about Gabbard followed her testimony at the world wide threats hearing on Capitol Hill last month where she declined to condemn Joe Kent, who had resigned days earlier after arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States.”
The president over the weekend delivered a tepid endorsement of Gabbard when asked by reporters if he still has confidence in her leadership.
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “I mean, she’s a little bit different in her thought process than me, but that doesn’t make somebody not available to serve.”
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung delivered a stronger defense of Gabbard.
“As President Trump just said in his remarks, he has confidence in Director Gabbard and the tireless work she is doing. He has assembled the most talented and impactful cabinet ever, and they have collectively delivered historic victories on behalf of the American people,” Cheung said.
Award-winning journalist Kevin Baron weighed in, writing: “Gabbard is a devout anti-interventionist. But he’s the president. As generals would say, either salute smart or walk with your feet. She has a choice, too.”