From Hawaii politics to the Senate-confirmed role as director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard’s fast-moving career has sparked controversy at every turn. Now reports say she plans to resign after months in the post, with her husband Abraham Williams’ c
By the time Tulsi Gabbard stepped into the role of U.S. director of national intelligence, her public life already carried the imprint of reinvention—and friction.
Gabbard. once a Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii and a 2020 presidential candidate. later aligned herself with Donald Trump and officially joined the Republican Party in 2024. Months afterward, Trump appointed her as U.S. director of national intelligence, and the Senate confirmed her in February 2025 in a narrow 52-48 vote.
After confirmation. Gabbard said she hoped to restore trust in the intelligence community. arguing that many Americans believed it had become “weaponized” and politicized. During her time in the role. she remained a high-profile and often polarizing figure within Trump’s administration because of her foreign policy views and shifting political identity.
In May 2026, reports confirmed Gabbard would resign as director of national intelligence. The reason cited for her decision was her husband Abraham Williams’ cancer diagnosis and family priorities. Her resignation has once again thrust her personal life, military service, and political path into the spotlight.
Her story begins far from Washington. Gabbard is from Leloaloa, a small village on Tutuila Island in American Samoa. In 2012, she made history by becoming the first Samoan-American member of Congress, representing Hawaii’s second district for four terms. Raised in a multi-faith household that practiced both Christianity and Hinduism. she was also the first Hindu ever to serve in Congress.
Gabbard later stepped away from Congress. She did not seek re-election in 2020, choosing instead to focus on her presidential campaign. Since leaving Congress. she has launched a podcast called The Tulsi Gabbard Show and has made multiple appearances on Fox News and comedian Joe Rogan‘s podcast. She also spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2022, aligning herself with conservative circles.
Before her shift toward the Republican Party, she left the Democrats in 2022. On October 11. 2022. she announced her departure in a video message posted to X. laying out a long list of reasons for her decision. She said she could no longer remain “in today’s Democratic party that’s under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers. ” describing what she called “cowardly woke-ness. ” racializing every issue. and stoking anti-white racism. She also said the party undermined “God-given freedoms” enshrined in the Constitution. that it was hostile to “people of faith and spirituality. ” and that it demonized the police while protecting criminals. She criticized the party for what she described as “open borders” and said it “weaponize[s] the national security state to go after their political opponents.”.
After listing her grievances, Gabbard called on more Democrats to leave. “I believe in a government that’s of the people, by the people, and for the people. Unfortunately, today’s Democratic party does not. Instead, it stands for a government that is of, by, and for the powerful elite. Now. I’m calling on my fellow common sense. independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic party. ” she said.
While her political identity has changed sharply, her military record is part of the foundation. In 2004. Gabbard left the Hawaii State House of Representatives to deploy with the Hawaii National Guard in a medical unit to Iraq. She volunteered for another deployment in 2008. serving as a military police platoon leader and training counterterrorism units. according to a profile from The Atlantic. Between deployments, she graduated at the top of her class from Officer Candidate School in Alabama.
Along with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, Gabbard is described as one of the first female combat veterans ever elected to Congress. She is also noted as the first female combat veteran to run for president.
Her 2020 bid for the White House came before her break with the Democratic Party and before her eventual embrace of Trump-era politics. She made the announcement on Jan. 11. 2019. telling CNN’s Van Jones. “I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week…There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I’m concerned about and that I want to help solve.”.
In explaining her campaign priorities, Gabbard focused on healthcare, criminal justice reform, and climate change. “There is one main issue that is central to the rest. and that is the issue of war and peace. ” she said during her announcement on CNN. “I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth.”.
No thread in Gabbard’s career has been more contested than her relationship to Russia-related narratives. While she sought the Democratic presidential nomination. Russian state propaganda often portrayed her favorably while denigrating other Democratic candidates. including Joe Biden. according to research from the Foreign Policy Research Institute. a Philadelphia-based think tank.
She has faced controversy for statements about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including claiming that the U.S. has funded biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine. On the day Russia invaded. she wrote on social media that the war could have been prevented if the U.S. and its Western allies had recognized Russia’s “legitimate security concerns” regarding Ukraine’s bid to join NATO.
Those remarks have led many to accuse her of amplifying Russian propaganda. Republicans in Congress. including former Representative Adam Kinzinger. called Gabbard’s statements “traitorous” and accused her of embracing “Russian propaganda.” Senator Mitt Romney criticized her as well. saying she was “parroting fake Russian propaganda.”.
Taken together. the facts trace a single. consistent headline in her public life: each major step—into Congress. into a presidential run. out of the Democratic Party. and into Trump’s intelligence leadership—has carried its own flashpoint. When the Senate confirmed her in February 2025 by a 52-48 vote. Gabbard framed the job as a chance to restore trust in an intelligence community she said had become “weaponized” and politicized. Months later. the decision to resign in May 2026. tied to her husband Abraham Williams’ cancer diagnosis and family priorities. brings a different kind of urgency to the same spotlight.
Where Gabbard goes next will be watched through two lenses at once: the political and foreign-policy controversies that followed her into the Trump administration, and the deeply personal details now driving her departure from the director of national intelligence role.
Tulsi Gabbard director of national intelligence Trump Republican Party Senate confirmation 52-48 Abraham Williams cancer intelligence community weaponized Russia Ukraine controversy Iraq deployment 2004 military police platoon leader 2008