Tulsi Gabbard is an American politician and military officer serving as Lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2021, having previously served in Hawaii Army National Guard from 2003 to 2020. In November 2024, President-elect Trump selected Gabbard for the position of Director of national intelligence in his second term, starting January 2025. A former Congresswoman, Gabbard served as U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. She was the first Samoan-American member of Congress. She was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. She left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent. In 2024, she joined the Republican Party.